Whereas the Sky Wishes
by sanadayuina
Summary: Dino never thought he would ever end up in this kind of situation. Falling in love with a man fifteen years his senior? A married man with a teenager son. And the said son is accidentally Dino's own pupil and the lover of his 'younger brother? Well, if he is not fucked up, he doesn't know what it is called. (Slash, mention of 1827)
1. Prologue

_Summary: Dino never thought he would ever end up in this kind of situation. Falling in love with a man fifteen years his senior? A married man with a teenager son who accidentally is Dino's own pupil and the lover of his 'younger brother'? Well, if he is not fucked up, he doesn't know what it is called._

_Pairing: DinoOC, 1827, OCOC_

_Universe: Semi-AU_

_Rated: T for confusing story-line._

_Genre: Drama, Romance_

_Warning: Grammar and spelling errors,__**slash, boy x boy**__,__**GAY PAIRING**__, unorthodox story context, questionable content, OCpairing, possible Gary-Stu (for I am paranoid), crazy pairing, OOC-ness, and a lot of other craziness._

_**Beta Reader: **__**mitzuna**_

_**Whereas the Sky Wishes**_

**Prologue**

"Oh, sorry."

Dino hastily apologized, looking up to see the person he just bumped into. _Embarrassing_, thought Dino—wondering why he had to bump into someone and to be the one fall on his butt when the person he just collided with is still standing perfectly.

The person who he apologized to—a handsome Japanese man who was wearing a long trench coat—just stared down at Dino with curious brown eyes, making Dino fidget nervously. "U-um…?" the Italian muttered hesitantly.

"Are you okay?" the man's companion, a tall platinum-blonde haired woman who wore a matching trench coat, asked worriedly and offered her gloved hand to Dino who took it gratefully.

"I am really sorry—tripped on my shoes," Dino said quickly. "I am so—"

"It is fine," the woman cut him off kindly. "Just watch your step now—the road is slippery after snowing."

Dino nodded, grateful that he didn't seem to cause any trouble. For himself and the couple too.

The man, who—Dino just noticed—was shorter than both Dino and the woman, tilted his head haughtily in a manner vaguely familiar to Dino before talking in a low, steady voice, "Hua. Let's get going."

Without waiting for a reply, the dark haired man then side-stepped Dino and walked away, not even once uttering another word to Dino. The woman—Hua (_probably a mix of two bloods or more,_ Dino's mind supplied helpfully)—gave one last smile to Dino before saying goodbye and be-careful to the Cavallone Decimo before following the man quickly.

Dino looked back at the couple, watching the man wrap his hand around the taller woman's waist before the both of them disappeared after a corner.

"Huh," Dino whispered to himself, tilted his head curiously right when Romario appeared at his side—panting and looking worried for his wayward boss. "Both of them look familiar somehow…?"

"Boss?" asked Romario curiously, squinting his eyes at the direction Dino was looking at, frowning when he saw nothing.

Dino just shrugged before asking Romario what he was doing here.

.

Till that day, Dino still doesn't know what kind and how much of trouble he will get into because of that couple.


	2. Problem One

_**Beta Reader: **__**mitzuna**_

_**Whereas the Sky Wishes**_

_**First Trouble**_

_._

_There is darkness._

_But it is not darkness._

_._

_You who stood in a faraway place…_

_._

Dino was surprised when he came to Hibari's residence to fetch his self-proclaimed younger brother under Reborn's command.

Well, the fact that Tsuna was _in_ Hibari's residence—an impressive ancient-traditional Japanese styled house—_willingly_ was also surprising. But the slightly familiar face of the woman who opened the door for Dino surprised him more.

"Ah, Tsunayoshi-kun's escort?" asked the woman—_Hua_, Dino suddenly remembered what the woman was called—kindly. "Do you want to come inside? Tsunayoshi-kun is having snack with my husband."

The Bucking Bronco smiled brightly at the platinum-blonde haired woman, thanking her for her offer and that he will take it happily. The woman nodded, letting Dino slip past her and finally entering the house. All the while, Dino noticed that she looked like she doesn't remember Dino and their little encounter almost half a year ago.

Of course, considering it wasn't a big event and took no longer than ten minutes—including the seemingly hurried walk the woman and her companion did back then—it wasn't much of a surprise. It _did _surprise Dino that _he_ remembered that encounter, though.

.

Her companion, the one Dino bump into… is her husband.

Her husband…

Who probably is Hibari Kyouya's older brother although he looked almost nothing like the boy.

Hibari Kyouya's older brother who was eating chocolate cake and staring silently at Dino's own self-proclaimed younger brother who was chatting politely and yet excitedly with the man.

_Oh, that was the most surprising revelation today._

Dino just stared at the dark-haired male and brunette who sat in the _kotatsu_ across each other—two cups of still steaming tea, a pot, and a slice of chocolate cake each in front of them. The two of them didn't even pause the one-sided conversation nor spared them another glance when Dino and the platinum-blonde haired woman entered the room..

Blinking slowly before deciding to take in his surrounding, Dino let the tall woman—who was wearing a red Chinese dress with long sleeves, in contrast to her husband's indigo _hakama_—get the attention of the male who looked too absorbed with whatever one-sided discussion they were having. The room, just like the rest of the house, was big and connected to other rooms on both sides. It looked old but comfortable—the floor is strangely made from polished wood and cushioned with expensive carpet, not the usual _tatami_ the other rooms have concluded Dino's wandering eyes when the woman led him into this room—and had a strange mixture of western and Japanese furniture.

"Oh, Dino-san?"

Dino let his wandering eyes draw back and focused on his younger brother, smiling sheepishly when he saw the surprise in that pair of big caramel eyes and yet again, curiosity in the other man's eyes. "Come here, Dino-kun," the only woman in the room said, sitting beside her husband and holding two empty cups that seemingly appeared from who-knows-where.

"Eh, but—"

"Sit," the kimono-wearing man said—no, commanded—gesturing at the spot beside Tsuna. "And state your business."

Dino and Tsuna both flinched at the tone the man used—a image of a tonfa-bearing boy with bluish-silver eyes appeared in Dino's mind and Dino was quickly checking the possibility of this man being his-soon-to-be-student's big brother albeit the lack of identical physical features as positive. Dino glanced worriedly at Tsuna, who from the look on his face remembered the same person, Dino unpleasantly thought.

"Anytime this year," the man muttered coldly, still staring at Dino with the same sharp gaze Kyouya has.

Dino quickly nodded and walked to them—only to trip and fall right on his face.

"Agh, Dino-san!" Tsuna exclaimed, his tone worried. In a second, he is already on Dino's side—helping the older man up.

"_How could he trip on nothing?_"

A voice in a very different tone than Tsuna's exclaimed—mixes of curiosity, mocking, amusement, and simply bewilderment.

Hearing that, Dino couldn't help but blush in embarrassment, rubbing the back of his neck and grinning wanly at the man who was now leaning to look closely at Dino. "Hahaha," Dino laughed nervously. "My feet—"

The man frowned at Dino before nodding in dismissal. "Whatever. Just sit here, both of you."

Both Mafia bosses then quickly followed the order, sitting perfectly still in front of the man and woman. "Taiga, don't scare them," Hua said, although she didn't seem upset—just amused.

The man, Taiga, only sipped his tea calmly, ignoring his wife before putting the cup down and staring at Dino and Tsuna again. "Introduction?" Taiga asked, nodding at Dino. "And relationship with my son."

"Eh?"

"Son-complex," Hua quickly explained at the confused looking Dino. "And I don't think it is polite to ask that before you introduce yourself, Taiga."

Taiga scowled at the platinum-blonde haired woman but did nothing to do what his wife asked. Sighing fondly, Hua shook her head before nodding to Dino. "Sorry for the late introduction—I am Hibari LongHua, Kyouya's mother. This is my husband, Hibari Taiga."

Dino gaped at the Hibari couple, surprised that the young-looking couple was not Kyouya's brother and sister-in-law but the teenager's parents. "I am sorry—you two look too young to be Kyouya's parents, it surprised me," Dino quickly said, when Taiga started to glare at him.

"Oh, we get that a lot," Hua said indifferently.

"So, you are…?" cut Taiga, still glaring at Dino. "And _Kyouya_?"

_Oh, yeah… son-complex…_ thought Dino, shuddering at the piercing gaze.

"Dino Cavallone, Tsuna's _aniki-bun_ and Kyouya's tutor, probably... Taiga-san...?" Dino trailed hesitantly, not sure how to address the man.

Taiga looked at Dino with skeptical eyes before bluntly asking, "Having no romantic feelings whatsoever for my son?"

"No, of course not!" Dino answered without thinking—horrified at the thought of having romantic feeling with the feral animal whose mind only consisted of fighting, sleeping, protecting Namimori, and sleeping _again_.

"Don't you ever dare to touch my son, then," Taiga scowled at Dino who nodded nervously.

Tsuna looked at Dino worriedly but Taiga only let out a pleasant sound at the Italian's response and went back to eat his forgotten chocolate cake. "What are you doing here, Dino-san?" ask edTsuna when Hua put a cup of tea in front of Dino. "_Where is Romario-san?_"

Dino just grinned at Tsuna after thanking Hua, who got up and muttered something about fetching more snacks, before answering the question. "Reborn asked me to fetch you," Dino said happily. "Talking about how you were kidnapped by Hibari and ditched Basil and the rest. Romario is in your home, with Iemitsu."

"I am not kidnapped," Tsuna muttered. "Reborn always making big things simple, and vice versa, isn't he?"

"Yup!" Dino exclaimed. "_We_ know you are willing to come here. Anyway, I thought it was _Kyouya_ who 'kidnapped' you. Where is he?"

"Hibari-san? I don't know—"

"Father, I am back…–Do you have guests over?"

Tsuna's sentence was cut by a familiar cold voice from outside the room. Dino and Tsuna looked at each other panicky when the sliding door slides open.

And there he was, standing with his dark uniform and cold glare directed at both Tsuna and Dino.

Hibari Kyouya.

Taiga—for the fact that he just showed protectiveness over his son almost as worse as _Iemitsu_—just looked up and nodded at his son without interest before focusing on the cake again. Dino and Tsuna were sitting up even straighter when the cold bluish-silver eyes found them. The almost-sneer on Kyouya's face was not whipped away when a frustrated voice came from behind the teenager.

"How many times have I told you _not_ to barge in when your father _might_ have guests, Kyouya?" Hua asked her son who just scowled at her before going back to glare a hole at both Dino and Tsuna.

Hua huffed at the Namimori overlord, shoving Kyouya non-too-gently with her elbows. "Move out of the way—just come inside and eat your afternoon snacks before you go to your _patrol_ again," Hua said, unfazed of the glare her son was giving her.

Dino was blinking owlishly at the pair. Watching the one-sided argument (_it seem that any conversation happening in this house-hold happened to be mainly one-sided_) with interest.

Now, while Hua and Kyouya were standing side by side and with Taiga sitting right in front of him—Dino could see that Kyouya was _indeed_ their son.

Kyouya's physical features were almost identical to his mother's, downright to the strange colored bluish-silver eyes that was always giving the boy a distinct feeling of foreigner—Hibari LongHua was a handsome woman, indeed. Other than that, Kyouya's coloring and body built—his pale skin, slender body, slanted eyes, his black hair—all comes from his father. And, if the interaction Dino had with both son and father—as little as it was—was any indicator, it seemed that Kyouya also took mostly after his father personality , not to forget the almost identical glare.

_Now_ Dino knew why he felt as if he knew Hua and Taiga when he first met them.

"What are they doing here?" asked Kyouya, grudgingly sitting beside his father.

"Your father kidnapped Tsunayoshi-kun. Again," Hua answered her son while putting a slice of chocolate cake in front of Dino, Kyouya, _and_Taiga each. "And Dino-kun here is to fetch him."

"Yo, Kyouya," Dino said, grinning at his soon-to-be-protégé who just scowled at him—while Tsuna muttered a small "Sorry for intruding, Hibari-san" at Kyouya.

Taiga was looking at the new slice of cake in front of him curiously before poking it with the fork in his hand and saying offhandedly, "I didn't know you need a tutor, Kyouya. Why?"

Dino and Tsuna visibly blanched—they thought neither Taiga nor Hua would press the subject more (_they hoped every parent would be like Yamamoto's father or Tsuna's own mother and wouldn't ask awkward questions_). They didn't even know if Kyouya told his parents about his Mafia-relations—and even though Hibari's family was focused on material arts (_Dino read the name in front of the gate before coming inside and it did say _Hibari Dojo _which explained Hibari Kyouya's almost superhuman power and ability_) they were still civilians. Not to mention the glare Kyouya sent their way.

Oh, definitely _that_.

They were screwed.

"Apparently I am now part of Vongola Famiglia," Kyouya said coldly and bluntly—making Dino and Tsuna having a twin heart attack. "Although I never remembered agreeing to be Sawada Tsunayoshi's Cloud Guardian."

Taiga was humming to himself before deciding that the cake in front of him was not a lie and started to cut it in small pieces. "Vongola… the Mafia?" asked Hua. "Oh, that makes sense. Cavallone. Dino Cavallone. Cavallone Decimo, then?" And then, the probably-Eurasian woman was watching Dino with interest.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi is Vongola Decimo, then?" asked Taiga distractedly. "Scrawny, clumsy, no-good Tsunayoshi? What happened with the other heirs and _why_ do you have to be trained?"

Dino would feel sorry for Tsuna after Taiga delivered the words that would pierce even Dino's heart if that was directed to him—if Hua was not watching him with interest _and_ the fact that he felt alarmed with their knowledge, this pair of seemingly normal (as normal as the couple who was bearing the Hibari name and birthing _Hibari Kyouya_ could get) civilians. Oh, Reborn will kill _them_.

.

"How could they know that? _How_?" Tsuna was almost hysterical now, when they finally were in safe distance from the Hibari's residence. "And how could they be so _calm_ with their son's involvement with the Mafia? Not that I want Hibari-san to be involved but…"

In a normal situation, Dino would try to calm Tsuna down. But, now he was in no better condition than his little brother. To put it bluntly, both Dino and Tsuna were just being stripped bare from every bit of information the Hibari's parents wanted to know.

Groaning to himself when he remembered that he had to spill any insider information he could give to Taiga and Hua if he wanted to even have the slightest chance to train Kyouya, Dino felt chills running down on his spine. They were practically bullied to tell the Japanese and Eurasian everything—Reborn won't put all the blame on them, right? Not to mention that both of the Hibari-seniors seemed to know a fair amount of information already.

Again, from where did they get it?

"Kyouya doesn't seem like he wants to train with me, still," Dino said, shaking his head sadly. "Although his parents looked _excited_ about the prospect of the Ring Conflict happening in their _area_. I don't even know if that's a bad or good thing."

"Taiga-san likes fighting as much as Hibari-san," Tsuna said, groaning to himself when they decided to maneuver into a park before going home. "And Hua-san is not better—although she seems to have a better grasp at controlling that urge. _Ow,_ that reminds me of the first time I was kidnapped by Taiga-san…"

Dino whipped his head around quickly to look at Tsuna, his brown eyes widened in surprise. "What? What?" Dino asked frantically, worried for his younger brother although he knew nothing bad could have happened or Tsuna wouldn't sit calmly and chat with Taiga today.

Tsuna smiled sheepishly at Dino, if not a bit embarrassed. "Dino-san knows that I am a perfect target for bullying, right?" asked Tsuna Dino who was nodding with a pained expression on his handsome face. "I am fine—I am fine now," assured Tsuna before he continued. "Well… umm, it is embarrassing to admit… ah, well I was cornered by some third-year bullies on my way from school, Taiga-san accidentally saw me when he wandered around. Because he was bored, he came to us and then he _bullied_ the bullies—taking their money and then hitting them until they fainted. He then looked at me, as if he just noticed I was there. I was nervous—Dino-san can understand right?" And Dino did understand. The stare Taiga sent to people is not _scary_ per se, but it can make most people feel nervous. "Then, before I could say anything, Taiga-san just dragged me off and brought me to his house. I was so _surprised and scared_. Especially, because Taiga-san apparently took a liking to me and always suddenly drags me along with him just to have me chat _to _him out from nowhere whenever he feels like it. It is not as if he is particularly bad or anything… he can be _scary_ sometimes—even more than Hibari-san. And then after the third or fourth time I got to know he is Hibari-san's fathedr… it doesn't surprise me anymore. Actually, it does make sense—"

And Tsuna shuddered, as if remembering something bad. And knowing the one he was talking about—it could be something bad indeed. Curious as he was, Dino had no intention to traumatize himself.

"Anyway," Dino started, trying to make his beloved younger brother forget about the traumatic experience. "How old are the Hibari-seniors? They seem to be quite young."

"Both are thirty seven," answered Tsuna, smiling gratefully at Dino for changing the subject. "It seems that they married early and got Hibari-san one year or so after marrying."

"Oh—so, will I win the bet if I said Hua is Eurasian?" Dino asked again, genuinely curious. "I always had a feeling that Kyouya is not a full-blood Asian."

"Hua-san is part-French, part-China, probably part-Japanese too—her family lineage is confusing," answered Tsuna. "Thus her face and height—this drives Taiga-san crazy, actually. Being shorter than his wife."

Dino couldn't help but laugh at that, and Tsuna was also smiling with amusement.

.

Reborn looked at his protégés with unreadable eyes, while the said protégés just fidgeted nervously.

It would be a funny picture—watching an adult male and teenage boy being stared down and scared off by a baby not even a quarter their sizes. But, because it was _Reborn_, there was nothing funny about it. For Tsuna and Dino, at least.

"So," Reborn begin dangerously. "You spilled everything to Hibari's parents?"

"_Almost_ everything—I am sorry," Dino mumbled, avoiding Reborn's glare. "To our defenses, they seemed to know about the Mafia already."

"Of course," Reborn said coldly. "The Hibari family and Nuage family—LongHua's family—are both direct descendants of the First Generation Cloud Guardian. Not to mention most of Vongola's men who come from Japan and China are trained under the Hibari Dojo—not only the one in Namimori, but also the branches in Tokyo and China, both are under the control of Hibari Taiga's older brothers. That's why Hibari Kyouya has more than one qualification to be your Cloud Guardian, Tsuna."

Dino and Tsuna were both gaping at Reborn who now smirked smugly at them, tipping his mini-fedora haughtily. "Never heard that piece of information, have you?"

Tsuna was scowling at Reborn, while Dino pondered about the information Reborn just gave them. "But…" Dino said. "Isn't it like intermarriage?"

"Oh, please," Reborn said, rolling his eyes. "How could it become intermarriage when they both separated for how many generations already? It is just some very, very _beautiful_ fate that in the end both families become one again."

Dino felt his lips twitch at Reborn's sarcasm. As expected of Reborn, really.

"But I am still disappointed in both of you," Reborn said. "To let information slip away just like that. It seems that after the Ring Conflict is finished I have to _re-train_ both of you."

Dino and Tsuna both visibly shuddered when the smirk in Reborn's face changed to something really sinister.

"And, Dino. The prospect about Hibari agreeing to fight for us?"

Oo~~**~~oO

Dino doesn't know since when.

Nor does he know _why_.

.

_The pair of brown eyes that always looked at him with curiosity._

.

"You are here again?" Taiga asked Dino blatantly who smiled nervously at him. "Tsunayoshi isn't here today."

The blonde-haired male started gaping at Taiga, before shaking his head. "Are you still angry at me, Taiga-san?" asked Dino, curious about the way Taiga didn't even spare the creampuff container in his hand a glance—Tsuna once told Dino, the promise of more sweets could make the older man let _almost everyone_ come inside his home.

Dino did notice that he is not the dark-haired man's favorite person—it seemed that Hibari Taiga's favorite person outside of his family was Tsuna and only Tsuna. Unlike his son, Taiga didn't even spare a glance at Reborn when they met accidentally at Namimori Shopping District—Taiga just threatened the same pastry shop the creampuff in Dino's hand came from to give him some cakes (_Haru and Kyoko told Dino that the pastry is indeed _good)—and focused solely on Tsuna who greeted him happily and only sparring Dino another curious glance. But Dino is practically on thin-ice in regards of a barely-good relationship with this man.

Especially after he neglected to tell Taiga that he would take his son training across the world not long after that accidental meeting.

Taiga was scowling at Dino—for a brief second it looked so much like his son, Dino had to take one step back. "Don't you have a job? Like kidnapping other people's sons?" Taiga said sharply, making Dino look down guiltily.

"Are you angry that he hurt himself?" asked Dino carefully—Taiga was _too_ unpredictable for Dino's own good and the Cavallone's boss was just thanking the gods that Romario stood not too far away behind him, ready to help if something bad happened.

Taiga looked taken aback, a confused frown on his face before he practically cuffed the back of Dino's neck. Hard.

"T-Taiga-san?" Dino stuttered, cradling the back of his neck gingerly while looking tearfully at the man who just glared at him.

"My son is strong," he hissed at Dino, his bare feet crushing one of Dino's shoes covered foot with enough force to make Dino let out a pained whimper which made Taiga's face morph to twisted pleasure. "My point is, you took him away without my content."

And just like that, Taiga spun around—the box with creampuffs in his hand before closing the door in front of Dino's face without another word.

.

_His eyes that are always looking at him with curiosity and slight wonder._

_The hidden wariness that always followed Dino._

_._

"Dino-san, where are you going?" asked Tsuna, yawning widely at Dino who was putting on his shoes hurriedly.

"Making peace offerings," Dino said, grinning wildly at Tsuna. "It is fun to see his distraught face when I come first thing in the morning."

Tsuna smiled at Dino and sighed fondly. "You are almost obsessed," the boy said. "Didn't he throw something at you already? He dislikes being disturbed in the morning before he got two more hours to sleep after breakfast."

"Doesn't he have to _work_?" asked Dino back, his grin still in face. "Yesterday he threw one of Kyouya's tonfa at me. Kyouya was not pleased."

"At _you_ for making Taiga-san throw _his_ tonfa to _you_, right?" Tsuna said, which Dino answered with delighted laugh.

.

"You again," Taiga said flatly—right after Hua disappeared around the corner.

"Me again," Dino said, grinning happily and waving the bag of strawberry shortcake in front of Taiga's nose. "Good morning, Taiga-san. I see you are still angry at me."

Taiga scowled at Dino, covering his mouth to hide a yawn. The man looked rumpled, messy bed hair and slightly flushed face. Dino can't help but frown at the dark-haired man's appearance.

Taiga _is_ lazy—but Dino already came in at the same time as today for three days straight before and the older man was usually already, at least, changed his pajamas with something comfortable for morning training. The fact that the man still got bed hair and was still wearing his pajamas didn't set well with Dino.

"Taiga-san?"

"Hn? I am still cross at you," answered Taiga distractedly. "Where is your usual escort?"

Dino glanced back at the small group behind him briefly—frown deepening and quickly changing into worried look. Taiga was definitely _not_ fine if he didn't notice the group of suit wearing man not far away.

"Are you sick?" asked Dino, offering the box at Taiga who accepted it without thinking—eyes still half shut from his yawn.

"Probably," answered Taiga. "Hua and Kyouya said so. I don't know."

Dino's face betrayed nothing but his worry, touching Taiga's shoulder briefly and giving the man a gentle push. "I am so sorry I woke you up," Dino said gently to Taiga who just looked at Dino with a confused glance. "Just… come inside and rest?"

Raising his eyebrow, Taiga shrugged and took a few steps back inside his home. Glancing at Dino before closing the door in front of the Italian's face like usual, the man muttered, "Brat."

.

Dino was only able to stare at the closed door—for the first time feeling something akin to _hurt_ for being treated so indifferently—before shaking his head and turning around.

Oo~~**~~oO

It wasn't something big, at first.

It is just the fact that Taiga was always looking at Dino as if Dino was a misbehaving brat. Like Dino was still a child. Like Dino didn't do anything worth his time at all.

At first Dino didn't mind. After all, it was Dino's own fault for taking Kyouya training across the world without his parents' permission. Not to mention said person got hurt and more than half of Namimori-chuu—_a school which funds came from Hibari's family personal pocket_—got destroyed.

Well, to be fair, Taiga didn't hold the last problem on Dino—Hua didn't even hold a grudge or was angry at Dino _at all_(but because LongHua Nuage probably had more than a few screws lose in her head, that didn't surprise Dino). Instead, Dino accidentally heard that Taiga was mumbling something about Iemitsu, Nono, Cervello, Xanxus, and _the world in general_ for his son's wounds and Nami-chuu's condition. And Taiga started to shut up when he knew Vongola paid full on fixing Namimori.

The identical smug and pleased smirk on Taiga's face attached on Kyouya's when Dino saw him talking with Tsuna about it not long after he, himself, delivered the news about Namimori to Taiga.

Dino knew Taiga was mostly angry at him for the sake of being angry.

Hated him for the sake of hating.

Because Taiga is older, he often talked to Dino like Dino was the same age as his son and Tsuna, dismissively and not interested in Dino's respond—albeit indeed, he was always harsher to Dino than he was ever to Tsuna or Kyouya.

But there is something that made Dino keep coming to meet Taiga.

Something that was able to make Dino grin widely at the man.

Something so that Dino couldn't get upset about the man—something that hurt Dino when Taiga looked down at him.

But Dino didn't understand what that something was.

.

"That's why you are still a child."

Taiga once said that to Dino—

And that, above anything else, made Dino feel like something stabs him in the heart.

_Still a child_.

In Taiga's mind, Dino was never on the same level with him. Dino will never be able to be taken seriously by Taiga.

And that made Dino want to cry.

.

_If there is something I want to change about my life…_

… _I wish we could be together._

_Maybe it is my wish to be on the same level as you._

.

"Tsuna, I think I am in so much trouble…"

"Huh!?"


	3. Problem 2

_**Beta Reader: Mitzuna**_

_**Whereas the Sky Wishes**_

_**Trouble Two**_

_**.**_

Suddenly, Dino thought that he _knew_ why he feels like shit.

"No, no, no," whispered Dino to himself, rocking back and forth and hugging himself. "No _way_."

And he doesn't want _it_ to be true.

.

Dino knew that the realization happened right when he saw Kyouya and Tsuna together. When he saw Tsuna laughing with Kyouya. And when he saw how Kyouya touched his little brother.

His first reaction was a surge of protectiveness for Tsuna and his urge to throttle Kyouya for daring to even look at Dino's beloved little brother like _that_.

That was quickly followed by _envy_.

.

Dino was never a man who believed in darkness.

Nor that he ever believed in something like 'being in love'.

Dino loved everyone he likes equally, sharing and giving and laughing. He was not the type who looked at one person and only one person.

Never wanted to be special nor make anyone special.

.

He believed he would meet a girl that could understand him. That he would love and want to protect her as much as he want to protect his family. A girl who would become a part of his Famiglia.

But only that.

Dino never ever thought of a future with any woman—unlike Tsuna.

Never thought of marriage, or kids, or…

Dino knew he didn't want any of that just yet—nor that he found anyone he wanted to be with as much as he wanted to be with his subordinates, Tsuna, Reborn, and the others.

.

A man who was really different—a man who didn't even look at Dino as equal.

.

Something's changing.

Something dark.

Something…

.

His rare smile.

The way those usually dull brown eyes sparkled when he found something interesting.

The laughter he sometimes let out when he saw something silly and thought no-one was around to witness it.

The proud man who was so silly sometimes…

Who gets angry over nothing and gives no reaction to something…

Someone who was mentally-retarded and took joy in something others usually wouldn't even care about…

.

A man who was trapped in his own time so he won't even care for the other.

.

This was mad.

And this made no sense.

Oo~~**~~oO

"But, since when did love make any sense?" asked Tsuna Dino who was cowering in a corner of Tsuna's room, hiding his face in his hands. "You fall—you don't need a reason to fall in love. You just do."

The Cavallone's boss let out a strangled whimper and tried to melt with the wall.

.

"_What are you doing here?"_

_Taiga was staring at Dino who just smiled wanly, rubbing the back of his neck as nervous gesture._

"_I want to—"_

_And the older man turned around, didn't even care to listen to Dino before disappearing in some corner of the road._

.

"But there is really _no_ reason, Tsuna! I don't even know. This is ridiculous. He is not even kind to me."

"… But he is your opposite, Dino-san. And opposites do attract in some cases."

.

"_Time waits for no one."_

.

That was what Taiga once told Dino when asked why he liked to do anything on his own pace.

Dino never understood what Hibari Taiga meant by that.

Oo~~**~~oO

Time is endless.

Repeating again and again.

Just like a season will come back.

Again and again.

But there is never the same happening every time.

Spring might come and go.

Summer will follow soon after.

Fall will quickly replace it.

Winter then will take over.

But it will come back.

Although it was never the same.

Never.

.

"Tsuna, he is married."

Tsuna let out a long suffering sigh and scooted closer to Dino. The younger man then reached out to brush Dino's hair gently, although the blonde was still not looking up and continued to hide his face.

"I know," Tsuna said, a pained smile on his face. "And… and that's why I am not sure if this is a good idea."

"… I heard a 'but' here."

Tsuna let out a short laugh and shook his head—wondering why _he _was the one who talk about all this. It was supposed to be Dino who gave _him_ romantic advice, not the other way around.

"If that is how you're feeling, don't try to deny it," Tsuna said. "It will grow even more the more you deny it. It will _hurt_ even more. Accept it, and move on, Dino-san."

.

_Yes._

_Yes._

_There is something different._

_He is someone unreachable._

.

"I am not even sure if it is love."

Oo~~**~~oO

LongHua was a nice woman—if not a bit crazy, but considering her husband and son, that was to be expected.

LongHua was kind, beautiful, and never showed any strange disdain her husband and son had. And Dino knew that.

To be honest, Dino kind of liked this woman.

But, to be blunt—he also hated her.

The Italian knew it is strange, it was strange.

But he couldn't help it.

.

"Do you, really?" Tsuna asked softly.

"Do I really what?"

"… Do you, really, don't know if what you're feeling is love?"

And then silence.

Dino felt something wrenching his heart, and suddenly he wanted to cry.

He was confused. He was scared.

He was scared of the unknown. He was scared at what was going to happen in the future. He was scared at what was going to happen to his Famiglia.

His Famiglia—his subordinates who were like his _real_ family. His…

Even though if the thing between Taiga and him—or lack thereof—was not going to bloom or even grown in the future… it would definitely change Dino.

His sexuality, the prospect of a heir…

Just having this confusing feeling for his student's father was already selfish. Really selfish.

And he was a boss—a boss was not supposed to be selfish. A boss was supposed to be selfless.

A boss was supposed to put his Famiglia in higher priority than himself.

And what Dino did now and what he might do in the future was already betraying all of those.

"I don't know," Dino finally looked up at Tsuna. "How do you feel about Kyouya?"

The color in Tsuna's face instantly disappeared, leaving the teenager pale. Dino instantly felt guilty when the younger boss slowly and with difficulty took a long breathe in.

"I don't know, to be honest," Tsuna finally said after a long awkward silence, worrying his lip. "It is not like how I felt with Kyoko-chan. It is… confusing. I can't name it—I don't even know why. Hibari-san is scary and I have no reason to like him more than a junior does with a senior he looks up to. But I still _do_, although I am not sure _why_. I can even look up all his bad sides and find good sides in it. I can see _him_ the way I didn't before."

"Is that what people call love?"

"… I am not sure, Dino-san. At the very least, I feel like spending the present and future with him would not be bad."

_Ah, so that's what it was_…

.

Dino never knew why, but suddenly his eyes would always follow the graceful figure of Hibari Taiga.

Even in a crowd and when he didn't even looking for Taiga, his eyes would always find him.

.

Taiga was strange in so many ways. Not all in bad ways but…

He could be an airhead sometimes, he was lazy bordering to slothful, and he always had pride as high as Mount Fuji—something that was slightly better in than his son whose pride was even higher than Mount Everest.

Taiga had a short attention span, Taiga was easily lured by the promise of cake and sweets, Taiga hated cats of any kind. No, he _was_ scared of cats.

Taiga who was not good with kids, Taiga who could be clumsy sometimes, Taiga who was more often than not acting like a spoiled brat.

Taiga's good and bad sides—Dino didn't know all of them and never dare to claim that he did. But Dino started to learn all of those and maybe… maybe the fact that he didn't mind was…

Oo~~**~~oO

"Tsuna… I might start to fall for him…"

.

Dino was not sure about his feeling—still didn't know if it was even _love_.

But Dino did understand that if he could request one thing…

It would be so he can… walk at Taiga's side.

.

_It was strange._

_And definitely absurd._

_But Dino still wanted it, anyway._

_._

_Time waits for no one._

_._

_And feelings can't be…_

_Never were able to be controlled…_

_._

"Both you and Tsuna always chose a hard way to life, didn't you?" Reborn said, half-annoyed and half amused. "The _Hibari_. Seriously. You especially, Dino."

.

_He just does._

_He just feels like that._

.

"No one can control feelings," Reborn said again. "I know that. I am human too."

And Dino felt guilt piercing his heart. It was rare… it was really _rare_, but Reborn seemed like he was disappointed.

But of course, of course Reborn would be disappointed.

Not only one, but the two bosses of the first and third biggest Famiglia were in love with men—with someone of the same gender. Not to mention, although Reborn never said it outright to them, they were Reborn's beloved protégés.

Reborn only wanted and wished for the best for them. And this definitely was not something that could be good or even close to the best even in Dino's book.

"You know what you're bringing yourself into, aren't you, Dino?" asked Reborn.

Dino gave a jerky nod at his ex-home tutor, still not able to bring himself to look up and see the big black eyes of the baby shine with disappointment.

.

_It was just like walking into complete darkness._

_He was never able to see what was in front of him or that he knew if he was really stepping on something._

_It was scary to take a step further—but it was scarier to stand still._

_Left alone in darkness._

.

"In Tsuna's case, it will be easier because Hibari Kyouya is… how to say this?" Reborn asked Dino who still refused to look him in the face.

Dino who still sat in _seiza_ and worried his lips until Reborn thought it would bleed soon if Dino didn't stop. Dino who looked like a lost child. Dino who looked afraid.

_This_ Dino reminded Reborn of the Dino he first met. The crybaby who always looked nervous and always broke something and in turn always looked guilty.

_Guilty_.

Yes, that's how Dino looked like.

The Italian looked guilty. And Reborn couldn't blame him for feeling guilty.

Reborn might not know the exact nature of his student's feeling for the Hibari-senior, but from Dino's look—his feeling might be serious enough to disturb the relatively calm Hibari family.

But, just like Reborn couldn't fault Tsuna for maybe-or-maybe-not falling for Hibari Kyouya for seemingly no apparent reason, he also couldn't blame Dino for falling for the teenager's father. Both Hibari Kyouya and his father were handsome, so was every member from the Hibari or Nuage family that Reborn ever had the pleasure (or not-so-quite pleasure) to meet. Not only that, they seemed to attract someone who was their exact opposite or someone almost exactly similar to them—which both Tsuna and Dino fall in the first category.

If Hibari Kyouya was a woman and the one Dino fell for was the mother, Reborn's only problem would be how to do any damage control for both his stupid protégés. After all, anyone who bears 'Hibari' as surname or even 'Nuage' was more than _good_ to be the wife of the mafia's bosses.

Sadly, both of his stupid yet beloved protégés had to choose a hard way to life, huh.

As expected of Reborn's students for never being boring.

"Hibari Taiga—let just put aside the fact that he is male thus can't bore an heir for you, you seem to understand that already, don't you?" Reborn started again when he was sure the blonde wouldn't say anything to his defense. "Hibari Taiga is almost old enough to be your father, a fifteen year age gap. Are you sure you have no problem with it? Dino, he will be forty soon enough and you are still in your prime age when he reaches the age of constant check-up on hospital. He might be beautiful and still looks young enough to be Hibari Kyouya's big brother, but it's left unsaid that even if it works for both of you, his age is something that—"

"I don't mind," Dino's mumbles cut Reborn's rant, even though the man still did not dare to look up to Reborn. "I already understand about the risk of… having possible feelings for someone way older than me. It is hard—it is hard already as in now, when we are still just acquainted. I know our conversations are rarely in track because of the generation gap, but sometimes that's because Taiga-san is unable to keep track of his own mind. I know that it will hard to… to be together like that. But I know that the possibility I can be together with him is slim—I know I want to be together with him. But I don't want… for now I only want to be closer. I don't even want to be his lover or anything like that. If he can spend some time with me, I am _fine_ already."

"So, you say that you are fine with him being older?"

"I can live with it."

Reborn let out a sigh, suddenly having the urge to point Leon at his miserable looking student and just make him man-the-fuck-up. But, of course, knowing Dino, it would be difficult.

"But there is also a problem that he is married, happily at that," Dino said slowly. "And I don't want to break his marriage."

"So you say it will be fine like this? Not being able to claim him as your own?"

A small miserable smile graced Dino's handsome face and the man just continued to look at his hand that was facing up-ward. "Reborn, you know that's not true," Dino said. "But I am not… I don't want to be mean. Nor cruel. I am a Mafia's boss and you said we bosses can snatch everything we want if we so wish for. But I am not sure I can make him happy. I want to, you know. I wish I could. But there is a limit on everything. Not to mention it would be unfair—for everyone, for my family too."

.

"_So, if you could ask for one thing, what would you want to wish for?"_

"_A chance. A chance to be his equal."_

_._

"You are content just to be by his side?"

"To be honest? No. But that's the only way."

And Reborn was only able to nod at his protégé. He couldn't help but secretly feel proud of both Tsuna and Dino. Both these no-good students of his were now growing up.

Were now able to choose their own way.

"You know, Dino. What I want is for both you and Tsuna to be happy. Both of you are selfless idiots who know nothing but giving," Reborn said, making Dino look up at him in surprise.

Lounging on Tsuna's desk, Reborn let a smirk grace his baby-face. "It annoyed me greatly—I don't say that breaking someone's marriage is something I support. I don't advice you to do that. But, just like what I said to dame-Tsuna—screw your duty. It is time for you to do something you truly want."

"R-Reborn?"

.

Yes, that's right.

Reborn only wanted the best for his protégés.

And the one who knew what was best for them were they themselves.

Their happiness—Reborn wanted them to be selfish from time to time. Wanted them to at least feel love, although they might not end up with said love.

That was why Reborn would not become a wall that stopped them.

After all, he was really curious about how everything would turn in the end.

.

"Tell me Dino, what do you really want to do _now_?"

Dino was silenced for awhile, his brown eyes looking unseeing at something beyond Reborn's head. Reborn just let him in his trance, content to wait until the Italian found the answer that he already knew but he kept denying.

It was not long until Dino snapped out of his musings and looked Reborn in the eyes. His brown eyes sparkling and determined.

"I want to meet him."

.

And, again, Reborn felt the urge to laugh and praise his students.

Oh, both of them are so damn interesting and he was _so_ proud of them.

.

"Then go Dino, go."

Oo~~**~~oO

_I want to meet him, I want to meet him, I want to meet him. Right now._

That thought spiraled inside Dino's mind, refusing to leave him even when he ran as fast as he could the way that he knew would bring him to the Hibari's residence.

He ignored his subordinates' calls and didn't say anything when they ran after him. He didn't even care when he tripped again and again just to barely catch himself before fully falling down and continued to run without pausing.

He only wanted to see him.

To understand…

To know that it was no illusion.

.

Until he bumped into someone and fell together with the one he just collided with.

"I am so sorry…" Dino groaned, he didn't know why he was always prone to bump into someone.

The one who he bumped into muttering something that sounded like death-threats with a familiar voice that made Dino look up only to feel his heart stop and his jaw drop.

"This is too much for an old-man like me—oh, you again."

And here, right in front of Dino…

Hibari Taiga was sprawled on the asphalt, making no effort to even stand up and just looked up to the sky while he muttered reasons why someone had to put a leash on Dino's neck. The road was unusually devoid of any life so the fact that Taiga was laying on his back, rubbing the back of his head, with his hakama spreading around him wouldn't disturb anyone.

Dino felt his lips trembling without him knowing why. It might be because he wanted to bite back a grin or tears. Or even both.

Dino knew clearly that, at the very least, he wanted to laugh and cry at the same time—without shame.

Oh, he already lived in a messed up world.

Falling in love with someone that would make his life more messed up wouldn't make any difference.

"Taiga-san?"

"… What?"

"Nothing."

And Dino was grinning happily, letting the moment continue until it had to stop gradually.

.

_But wishing for more time is fine right?_

_._

_Time waits for no one, but we can wait for time if we really wish for it._

* * *

.

.

_A/N:_ Wa~i I am happy that this story got nice feedback! And then I am thinking-if this story got more than 30 reviews in the end I will make the 1827 side of this one XD How about it? Anyone interested?

Again, thank you for all the reviews, sorry I can't reply yet...


	4. Problem 3

_**Beta: Mitzuna**_

_**Whereas the Sky Wishes**_

_**Problem Three**_

_**.**_

There were a lot of things in this world.

A lot of things to do, a lot of thing to see.

But too little time.

The sound of the wind rustling bamboo leaves in the late spring. The way skylarks hopped from one place to another and never stayed still. The way water continued to flowing, always rippling.

A moment of tranquility—aside from a misty morning—was what Taiga adores most.

.

Sadly, his childhood friend and, at the same time, his wife had to destroy that rare moment of pure… laziness with an offhand comment.

That comment being, "Dino-kun is pretty oblivious, isn't he?"

"Isn't he what?" asked Taiga distractedly, still focused on the skylark that hopped from one place to another without any sign to settling down.

_Just like Kyouya_, Taiga thought amusedly.

Hua was smiling amusedly at Taiga, poking the man in the side with her toes before sitting down beside her husband on the porch and following his gaze. "Don't say you didn't notice it," she said before chattering away in a mix of her two mother languages.

"Speak Chinese only or French only, woman," Taiga said, waving his hand dismissively at his probably crazy wife. "I don't understand what you are talking about."

"My point, exactly," Hua said cheerily, picking the dirt in her toe nails.

Taiga snorted at the woman, before yawning widely and asking, "What are we talking about?"

"About Dino-kun."

.

The boy looked so happy—he always looked happy,

It was different from Yamamoto Tsuyoshi's son happiness. Different from the gentle yet hesitant smile Sawada Tsunayoshi had. Different from his second older brother, who are more of an airhead than anything else. Different from Fong's calm smile. Different from Hua's broad smile.

He always looked genuinely happy.

But sometimes he looked like he wanted to cry too.

The boy who was so clumsy when his subordinates were not around—the boy who always looked at him with a bright and innocent brown eyes not so different from Tsunayoshi's.

Those honest… eyes…

.

"I do notice," Taiga said calmly, peeling an orange slowly, if not a bit messily—which made Hua's amused smile become even brighter. "The way he looks at me? That boy is hopeless."

Hua's laughter was rich and happy. Taiga only shook his head at the woman's ability to find something to laugh at in almost everything—from where she got the ability, he didn't know and didn't want to know.

"I am surprised," Hua said. "Kyouya and you are almost the same inside—well, he is not as lazy as you, mind you. And not as hopeless at household chores too, unlike _someone—_you. But the fact remains that you both can be quite retarded regarding your own emotions."

"Can you blame us?" Taiga said bitterly. "I was born a last child and Kyouya an only child. Our needs are attended to without us having to show anything."

"_You_ spoil Kyouya rotten," Hua said, tsk-ing in annoyance when Taiga was able to crush the orange completely. "Oh, I will peel it for you. Just clean your hands. Anyway, you spoil Kyouya—that's a fact. No wonder he became so haughty and prideful, considering the way you raise him. You also let him do whatever he wants, thus his father-complex."

"Isn't that good? Father-complex," Taiga muttered, wiping his hands on the edge on his yukata.

"For you—it seems that day by day he starts to _hate_ me _more_ because he has to share you with me. Ugh, that's disgusting, Taiga."

"Point taken," the younger by two days said, ignoring his wife's glare. "Anyway, I can be dense, but I am not naïve _Long_—" The woman laughed when Taiga used her 'more manly' name, shaking her head because it was Taiga's way to stir Hua's attention away from whatever part of Taiga's act was bugging her. "I am old enough to understand what that look means."

"Happy thirty seven~"

"Augh."

Taiga looked scandalized at Hua, who just smirked at the shorter man. "You know I hate being reminded how old I am."

"Aw, I am older than you. Although… you won't do anything about Dino-kun?"

"Do you want me to?"

"Nope! Don't!" Hua cried helplessly, putting the orange she was peeling down before shaking Taiga's shoulder. "Don't make him stop!"

"… You are a strange fellow, Long. I know but you are still strange," he said, making Hua smile innocently at him. "Anyway, it will go away soon. I am not going to do something troublesome to chase away something that will go by itself."

"Why you are so sure—" said Hua when her inner fangirl or, as Taiga calls it, 'crazy side' comes out.

"That's not how a wife should act when their husband is fancied by another man," Taiga said, torn between being annoyed and just humoring his wife. "And I am fifteen years his senior, Long. And even if my gender fits his preference, his is not fit to mine."

"Who said that. I remember quite clearly someone saying he would marry Tsunayoshi-kun if Kyouya won't. Even saying he will happily divorce me."

"Exactly."

"… God you are beyond help."

.

_Reality is what, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away."_

.

Kyouya knew something was off with Dino Cavallone. He just didn't know _what_.

It definitely had something to do with his father… or Namimori… or Tsunayoshi. After all, if not for those three options, Kyouya wouldn't even notice something amiss.

But Kyouya quickly crossed the last option. The only problem he seemed to have about Tsunayoshi was Rokudo Mukuro—and the fact that the said boy is now nowhere to be seen along with the baby, Gokudera Hayato, Yamamoto Takeshi, Sasagawa Kyoko, the herbivore from Midori-chuu, his baby-uncle's protégé, and the snot-nosed cow brat.

Fuming at himself, Kyouya then crossed his hands in front of his chest. His black gakuran was flapping wildly because of the wind, when he tilted his head slightly up so he could stare at the clear blue sky.

There was something bugging him—and it was something even bigger than just Dino Cavallone's strange antic when he was in Namimori.

Something bigger.

Frowning at the cloudless sky with his hair messed up because of the wind, Kyouya muttered to himself, "… What is this…?"

Oo~~**~~oO

"Hibari-san," Tsuna called over to the dark haired man—from behind he almost looked identical to his father in Tsuna's eyes, especially with the yukata that he wore.

The only differences were their preferences of yukata's color and the fact that Hibari's hair is a lot more messy and shorter than his father's. That hairstyle really suits him, Tsuna thought distractedly.

"What is it, Sawada Tsunayoshi?" asked Hibari, something strange flashed in his bluish-silver eyes—which made Tsuna take a step back before catching himself—and the man hid both his hands inside his black yukata's sleeves.

_Black, Taiga-san usually wore indigo… of the same shade as the color of Mist Flame. Hua-san likes to wear red china dress…_

The random thought made Tsuna remember what he wanted to ask Hibari. Why he was venturing to the skylark's den when he knew he would be bitten to death if he didn't state his reason clearly. Or if Hibari Kyouya wasn't pleased with his reason.

"I…" Tsuna gulped, looking away when the stare from Hibari became too unbearable.

Hibari let out a small sigh and opened one of the sliding doors. "Come in," said Hibari. "You want to ask me about something."

"Y-yeah," Tsuna said, quickly following Hibari into the room and noticed how familiar that room looked. Actually, the entire side of Hibari's place looked familiar for some reason.

When they finally sat in front of each other, Tsuna finally noticed why the base looked so familiar. It was almost the exact replica of Hibari's own home. Trying to hide his smile, Tsuna asked Hibari hesitantly, "Is Hibari-san the one who planned this base?"

Hibari blinked at him, letting his hands out from the sleeves when he looked at Tsuna with curiosity is his bluish-silver eyes. "Why?" he asked.

"Ah, no. This base just looks like your old home—well, I guess it was your _old_ home _now_," Tsuna said hurriedly, a nervous smile on his face. "And I wonder if Hibari-san made this base based on that. Also, the dojo in the main base—most of it is also similar to the one in your home."

The adult is still looked at Tsuna, his eyes still bright from curiosity before he finally answered Tsuna. "No," he said. "You are the one who planned all of this."

"M-me?"

"Yes, you made this base for me."

Tsuna looked at Hibari with surprise, couldn't believe what the older man was saying. "But—"

"Yes, but you are not here to ask about the base," Hibari cut him down. "Do you want to ask about yourself? About the _future_?"

"… No," Tsuna said, shaking his head and refusing to look at Hibari. "I… heard about what happened to Yamamoto's father. I… want to know if something also happened to Hibari-san's parents too."

And then…

Silence.

The only sound aside from their breathing was just the constant 'ka-clong, ka-clong' sound from the bamboo fountain outside. Tsuna was fidgeting nervously, already regretting his action.

He shouldn't have asked…

"You should talk to Dino Cavallone," Hibari said, then. "Or even to Tetsu. I don't want to talk about it."

"I-I am sorry."

"… Tsunayoshi."

Tsuna looked up, to see the usually unreadable face of one Hibari Kyouya.

And the boy couldn't help but let out a strangled gasp at the way Hibari's eyes shone. "Don't die," Hibari said, cold and clear. "Don't die. Win. Or everything will go to waste. Or your _death_ will be a waste. Don't die."

.

"Ah, damn…" Tsuna muttered to himself when he was curled up by himself in his room that night. "Ah damn…"

_I am in love with him_.

Oo~~**~~oO

"It is fine," Hibari whispered to himself, looking up at the night sky. "Everything will be fine… Tsunayoshi."

_Come back. Please come back soon…_

_My Tsunayoshi._

.

"_Kyouya-san, don't worry. I believe in you, and I believe in myself. So… it will be fine. Soon, we will be together again."_

_._

_The days we spend together…_

_I will always cherish them…_

_But please come back soon…_

_Tsunayoshi._

_Don't die._

Oo~~**~~oO

When Dino was finally able to come as backup and to tutor Tsuna—it really surprised him…

No, he was already prepared himself to see his little brother and his Guardians younger selves—but it still surprised him nonetheless. Especially Kyouya.

The last time he saw Kyouya—adult and angry Kyouya, who talked to Dino with a tone that spared him no forgiveness…

Young Hibari Kyouya really surprised Dino. He already forgotten that once, the Cloud Guardian was so small and young looking.

Smiling bitterly when he remembered 'this time' Tsuna and Kyouya… Tsuna and Kyouya who were in love and happy and…

And then he remembered that his beloved little brother was no more.

Yet… he was happy.

To be able to see his little brother again. There is no bigger happiness than this.

He didn't even remember how many nights he spend drinking to drown the feeling of helplessness when Tsuna was proclaimed dead.

"Yo, Tsuna, Kyouya!" Dino called Tsuna and Kyouya who were whispering to each other.

Both of them turned around to look at Dino—Tsuna looked hopeless and lost while Kyouya looked _for once_ worried. "What? What happened?" asked Dino, suddenly feel scared.

"Dino-san!" Tsuna cried at the thirty two years old male who was now standing close enough to touch.

"Bronco, my parents," Kyouya hissed at Dino. "Where are my parents, Bronco? My uncles—their students."

_Vongola Hunt_, Dino thought in horror.

Kyouya must have heard about Vongola Hunt from someone, heard about Yamamoto Takeshi's father and was now cornering Tsuna to ask about his family. But Tsuna… _this_ Tsuna didn't know anything. The older Kyouya refused to talk about what happened about his parents to anyone, and even if Tsuna asked him…

Especially after the almost-breakdown Kyouya had the time when his family—his entire family…_and then Tsuna_. Kyouya hadn't even shed a single tear on the Decimo's funeral. And that hurt Dino more than anything—because the one he already considered his own family was far too broken to cry on his lover's funeral.

Hibari. Loyal to a selective amount of things only.

And what they are most loyal to is their family.

"Your mother is fine," Dino said slowly. "With your uncles, in China. They are getting ready to send reinforcements to help. Your father is… no longer here."

Kyouya and Tsuna looked at each other before Tsuna fell on his knees—body trembling hard. "Why?" asked Tsuna without looking up to Dino. "Taiga-san is outsider, right? Just like Yamamoto's father… but why…?"

"… Taiga-san's not exactly an outsider, Tsuna," the Italian whispered. "He is Hibari Kyouya's… the strongest Guardian's father. Not to mention he was also quite strong. He was among the first ones who died on Vongola Hunt. He was a dangerous factor for Millifiore. Hibari-Nuage family had from generation to generation close ties to CEDEF, once in some generations, one of their members being the head of CEDEF, including the CEDEF's founder, Alaude Nuage. This generation, after your father put down his position, they say it will be Kyouya who takes CEDEF's control. They also know that Kyouya's having this… bit of complex over his father—and the fact that most of Vongola and CEDEF's Asian members are trained under Hibari Dojo before send here. They know if they kill Taiga-san, who is in control over them, the reinforcements from Hibari family won't come for at least one year because your uncles and mother have to get everything under control again. You know very well that your uncles usually don't want to have anything to do with the paperwork right? And… and your father's death was able to shock and stop the movement of the entire Hibari family for the first three months—thus why we can't really do anything."

Dino knew his explanation was making no sense—but he couldn't help it. Talking about that… about the first few agonizing months when Vongola Hunts started…

When not only Tsuna's parents but everyone's… even their ex-classmates were victims to it…

And the look on both Tsuna and Kyouya's faces…

.

"You are a bad liar, boss," Romario told him when the older man drove him to the Namimori Hospital. "If they were not so shocked, they would notice something is off."

"Tsuna does notice, you know," Dino sais slowly. "He asked me if that was everything I could tell them… Hyper Intuition is something. But I don't have any choice. It will be dangerous if they two of them don't believe that he is gone… well, in a way, he is…"

.

"Hello, Taiga-san… I am here again," Dino whispered to the man laying in the bed, unmoving.

Wires and machines connected to the pale and limp form of the man he was still in love with. The man whose time stopped two years ago.

The man who never opened his eyes since he got attacked by the Millifiore.

"I wanted to see you," Dino said again to the unresponsive body.

And then silence.

Dino then sat in a chair beside the man's head, brushing away the long bangs from the closed eyes. It hurt Dino to see him like this—so weak, so fragile… his time _finally_ stopped and practically dead.

But it was better than not having him at all.

None of the doctors had any hope that the man may wake up, Kyouya said the flame in his father is drained. He was just a mere breathing body, almost without soul.

"Kyouya is gone," Dino said. "Replaced with his younger-self… the you in the past would be pissed if you know. Tsuna is really something, isn't he? I can't believe he put this elaborate plan to bring the Guardians from the past back. I am so proud of him. We might be able to win like this. Sasagawa also succeeded on putting back the ones who were loyal to Vongola. Including VARIA, CEDEF, FOUNDATION, the Hibari, and all Vongola's allies including my family, we will be able to restore the order of the world and stop Byaku—"

And nothing more but sobs came out from Dino.

Dino…

.

Dino is a coward.

All the time he is in love with this man…

Almost ten years…

This man who never knew about Dino's feeling because Dino was a coward who was always running away and hiding from the truth.

Everything was already too late when he finally had the courage to tell the man about his feelings. Or when he finally embraced his own feeling.

Because… no matter what happened…

The man will never hear Dino's voice anymore.

.

To be Continued


	5. Problem 4

_**Beta: mitzuna**_

_**Whereas The Sky Wishes**_

_**Problem Four**_

_**.**_

The ground was shaking harshly and everything in front of Dino's eyes started to blur.

Then, suddenly, a flood of memories and feelings started to assault the Italian.

_._

_Regret, love, surprise, happiness, sadness, pride, relief…_

_._

_Tsuna's body in a coffin, surrounded by white lilies…_

_._

_Sadness. Sadness._

_._

_Reborn's small body in his hands, unmoving._

_._

_Grief. Grief._

_._

_People getting killed in front of him._

_._

_Anger. Anger._

_._

_Kyouya's angry face, shouting something…_

_._

_Guilt. Guilt._

_._

_Himself, looking at a mirror._

_._

_Pain. Pain._

_._

_Romario, standing beside him._

_._

_Love. Love._

_._

_Then Tsuna, fighting the battle and winning._

_._

_Relief. Relief._

_._

_In a hospital, watching a man who will never wake up._

_._

Gasping, Dino felt his tears start to fall when the mixture of different emotions from different memories finished assaulting him.

Tsuna's death, guilt. People he loved becoming victims… sadness.

And the fact that Tsuna was alive and everything will be fine again.

Happiness. Hope.

Oo~~**~~oO

Dino is an idiot—as Reborn liked to point out.

But…

At first it was hard to take in.

But _that_ was real. That was the _future_. Something that was possible to happen.

Dino was still cowardice about his own feeling—but his future self's feeling of hopelessness and regret made him restored his resolution.

_It is now or never._

_._

"_Time waits for no one."_

.

"Taiga-san, I brought you the donuts from the shop you mentioned," Dino sang at Taiga who was laying on his stomach in the living room. "Oh, yo, Kyouya."

Hibari, who was also sprawled on the floor with his head on his father's back—uncaringly using the man as his pillow—scowled at Dino before turning around and continued to read the book he previously read before Dino barged into the room. Taiga who was busy reading today's newspaper looked at Dino briefly before switching the position of his palm.

Grinning at the familiar gesture, the Italian then walked into the room and put the plastic bag he held in Taiga's reach. "… Chocolate," Taiga said, sniffling the air before letting out not-quite smile in his face.

"Yes, and no vanilla nor cheese flavor," the Cavallone's boss supplied.

The Japanese man let out a mumble before asking Dino who let him in the house, to which Dino answered only with laughter.

Both of the men were unaware at how Hibari Kyouya frowned at his book.

.

"Hey, Kyouya! Is your father home today?"

"No," Kyouya said coldly at his self-proclaimed home tutor.

Dino frowned at the young Hibari's response before it was replaced with a huge grin. "Well, then," he finally said. "I will come tomorrow to talk about your progress."

"What—"

And suddenly, as fast as he appeared, Dino Cavallone was already walking away with Romario by his side.

"… Why he does spend a lot of time in Namimori… doesn't he have work in Italy…?"

.

Something definitely was wrong.

And Hibari Kyouya didn't like it.

Oo~~**~~oO

Kyouya, after almost-obsessed observations on his father's life and due to the fact that he could care less on spending his precious time even glancing at the bronco if he could help it, finally understood what's going on.

His mother could tell him again and again that he was emotionally-retarded and wouldn't even noticed love even if it was written in pink glitter on his tonfa. And she wasn't wrong—after all, as much as Kyouya loathed it, that woman was his mother and understood him better than anyone, with her carrying him around for nine months and more and all. But, this one was different.

It was almost as clear as day. Almost as clear as the pineapple-herbivore feelings for Kyouya's _herbivore_. And almost as annoying if not _more_.

.

There was a new almost constant presence in Kyouya's life now. Not exactly in _Kyouya's_, but definitely something that affects his life.

After all, if someone hanged around too much near Kyouya's father, that definitely would effect Kyouya who spent most of his time with the said father. Be it training, lazing around, eating, or helping the lazy man finish his stack of paperwork.

So, it was _easy_ for Kyouya to notice the _unnecessary_ amount of time this new drag spent around his father. The way his _mother _would giggle and just be plainly _weird_. And the fact that this man wasn't supposed to be in Namimori at all.

There were times when, even if that man was not physically around, that idiot would international-call Kyouya then ask, 'Yo Kyouya. How are you? In okay condition with Tsuna? Oh yeah, is your father around?' and something similar to that. Then, the constant visits in Kyouya's home when the man was in Namimori in the guise of looking for Kyouya and asking _him_ about his shaky relationship with Sawada Tsunayoshi only that the bronco, more often than not, visited when he was _not_ home.

Not to mention the glances Dino Cavallone sent to his father when he thought no one was looking. The almost _obsessive _(even for Kyouya) knowledge about his father's dislikes, likes, and even sleeping habits.

_That _was even worse than the knowledge Sawada Tsunayoshi picked up by himself in regards of Kyouya and his parents.

Oh, Kyouya really didn't like this.

It took all his patience since childhood to share his father with his own _mother_—the woman who birthed him. It made him irritated to share what was _his_ even to one other person, just like how he felt about Namimori _and_ Sawada Tsunayoshi. But to share his father who Kyouya believed would only be _his _was really something that Kyouya didn't want to experience.

Sadly, Dino Cavallone had other ideas.

.

"Bronco… you are in love with my father."

The cold voice of one Hibari Kyouya suddenly said; making Dino jump in surprise before looking back and smiling sheepishly at the teenager. "Eh? Kyouya?"

The younger man didn't even bother to repeat his words. Instead, the Eurasian boy only looked at Dino coldly with a sneer that was able to send shivers creeping on Dino's back.

Hibari Kyouya as not a man to be crossed.

"I won't let you."

And just like that, the boy was turning away from Dino—his gakuran swaying dangerously on his shoulders.

.

Dino looked at his protégé with a small, sad smile.

"Oh well," he said. "I knew you won't like it…"

That was when Dino Cavallone understood that Hibari Kyouya's father-complex went further than he thought.

Oo~~**~~oO

Dino understood that he was being oblivious—but not oblivious enough for Taiga or Hua to stop him, that's for sure. Yet, the fact that even _Kyouya_ noticed something strange about him was needed to be fixed.

That was what he thought before everything was forgotten by the most bizarre sight he ever laid his eyes on in the living room of the Hibari residence, even more than the first time when his feet walked into exact the same room to see Tsuna having a one-sided conversation with Taiga.

"H-huh?" mumbled Dino, speechless.

"Taiga kidnapped another one again," Hua suddenly said from behind Dino, making the taller man jump in surprise before looking back to see Hua grinning at him.

What's with the Hibari and their obsession to make Dino have a heart-attack? Or anything that could make Dino fall into his grave fifty years earlier?

"Is that really Chrome Dokuro?" asked Dino, uncertain about his usually perfect eyesight. "I swear I saw Chrome Dokuro and Taiga-san having a staring contest—"

Hua peered over Dino's shoulder to the room, where indeed, Chrome and Taiga were too busy staring at each other to notice the commotion in the door. (Dino recognized the same blueberry cake he just bought for Taiga that morning on the plates in front of the man and girl and felt a mix of happiness and disappointment.)

"It seems that Taiga is really drawn to cute-looking people, isn't he?" Hua laughed freely. "Or it is something inside them. I can swear that the one he dragged inside was a boy."

"R-Rokudo Mukuro?"

"Yes, Taiga said that was his name," Hua said. "They seem to be quite taken with each other… they spent minutes to talk about how Mukuro was able to send Kyouya down on his knees. I can say they are quite alike."

"T-Taiga-san's not angry to know Mukuro almost killed Kyouya before?" asked Dino, stealing glances at the still motionless duo.

Hua pondered for a bit before shaking her head. "No, it seems that Taiga was praising Mukuro-kun… it will be _Kyouya_ who is angry if he knew his father knows he has been defeated…"

.

It really surprises Dino.

It does.

And somehow…

Dino feels scared.

Oo~~**~~oO

It suddenly occurred to Dino's (as Reborn would say) tiny brain that he didn't know what his family thought about his love-interest. And although he knew that it won't go anywhere further than how things were now, it was only fair to let the others know about it.

Although, truth to be told… Dino was _scared_ to tell his subordinates.

It was almost the same with how Tsuna felt about telling his hot-headed right-hand man and the rest of his family and friends that he was no longer fancying Sasagawa Kyoko but was more likely pitching for one Hibari Kyouya. And while he knew most if not all his subordinates weren't homophobic nor likely to judging people, he was afraid that they would be disappointed in him. Dino didn't want to make them feel disappointed.

And Dino knew, if even one of his subordinate was against his feelings for Hibari Taiga—and that possibility was big considering _everything_ Taiga was and wasn't—Dino would giving up and never come near any of the Hibari again. No question asked.

That was how a boss should be… how Dino _should_ be.

He was too old to continue to be spoiled and selfish thus ignoring his subordinate's needs.

"Boss, what is it?" asked Romario, looking at his unusually silent boss.

Dino, who had been looking unseeing at the paperwork in front of him lifted his eyes to meet with Romario's worried gaze. "Ah, Romario. The man I am looking for," Dino said, strengthening his resolve. "I need to ask you something."

"Hypothetically speaking, boss?" ask Romario with understanding in his eyes.

And Dino couldn't help but smile at the kindness his right-hand man always gave to him. How he was always giving Dino an easy way out. "Yes—no, not this time," Dino quickly said, shaking his head. "I will be completely honest with you."

Romario looked surprised at his boss' unusual outburst but choose not to ask. He knew he would get his answer soon enough.

"Shall I sit, then, boss?"

"Y-yes. Please do. Romario, I am not wrong saying that you know and understand what everyone thinks right?"

.

Romario always thought of Dino as his own son—as someone that he would protect and love no matter what. Dino didn't know about it, didn't realized it… but all his subordinates were like Romario. They loved Dino unconditionally and always would. No matter what happened.

They noticed, even before Dino or even Reborn did.

Ever since they saw one Hibari Taiga, they noticed that their boss would try to look at the man more than he should.

But, really. They didn't care.

They loved Dino, they wanted to protect Dino.

Just like how Dino loved and protected them.

They might spoil Dino. But Dino spoil _them_ too. So, it was fine.

Dino might think that he was always acting selfish… but for his subordinates, it was fine if Dino always acted selfish.

They were not biased. They knew that one of the most selfless people they ever met was not Dino but one Sawada Tsunayoshi. One Vongola Decimo who would bravely embrace death if that meant he can save _everyone_, who was willing to let go of everything he had if that meant everyone would be fine.

But that didn't mean Dino was anything less than Decimo.

Dino, after all—as Fuuta de la Stella once said—was the number one boss who would be able to fight monsters to protect them.

"What do you think, Romario?" asked Dino nervously. "I know nothing will come out from this… but…"

.

It pained them to see Dino like this—bitter and just plain heart-broken. But they knew they couldn't do anything. They knew that the only way they could help Dino was by staying by his side.

.

"Boss, it is fine. More what we thought about… what are you most afraid of?"

Dino was now looking anywhere but at Romario, biting his lips and playing with his fingers nervously. "What I am afraid of is... is… how you guys would react… and about Cavallone's future…"

"Boss, Cavallone won't be down only because you don't have a direct descendant," Romario said reassuringly. "We can always ask one of your cousins… anyone. And we are happy if you are happy, boss. If… your feelings make you happy, we don't mind. We don't, really."

"But… I am being selfish."

"It is okay to be selfish. Boss, pursue what you want to do. What you wish to do. You are our sky, and we don't mind to face anything as long as you are happy."

.

Romario never knew how his words alone always would make Dino feel better. Romario, after all, was the one who understood Dino the most.

.

"Thank you… Romario… guys… thank you…"

Romario could hear the trembling in his boss' voice and the tale-coming of tears. But he didn't look up from his lap to see it. It was okay, he supposed, to let his boss cry once in a while.

God know the kid needed it.

Oo~~**~~oO

_There was darkness._

_And only darkness surrounding him._

_No, there was something at his back. Something which he is leaning on._

_Dino brings his knees to his chest while wrapping his hands around it before titling his head to look at what he's leaning on. Nodding at himself when he finally notices what it is, Dino then goes back to staring at the endless darkness in this unknown abyss._

_The closet door behind him doesn't connect to anything._

_Darkness._

_Silence._

_Dino doesn't know where he is. He doesn't know why he is here._

_But he doesn't mind._

_He knows he is not in any danger so the Italian is content enough to continue sitting in the darkness. Waiting for the unknown._

_Because he knows he is mean to be here._

_Waiting._

"_What are you doing here?"_

_A light, boyish voice suddenly says—breaking the constant silence._

_Dino blinks owlishly, surprised at the light which absorbs the darkness around him—making the Italian notice that aside from the door, anything around him is pure nothingness. "Are you okay?" the voice asks again._

_And this time, Dino finally looks up to address the owner of the voice. Only to be rendered speechless when he sees the figure that's standing in front of him._

_The boy—or so Dino thought, he doesn't even know if it is human—who's standing in front of Dino has the stature of a human but is made purely by light. Or the figure is surrounded by the light. Dino doesn't know._

"_I am fine," Dino finally says._

"_What are you doing here?" the figure repeats his first question._

_The blonde opens his mouth to reply that he doesn't know, to ask where it is. But, instead all of that—as if the answer is already on his tongue and just waiting for this chance—he says, "I am waiting."_

_The figure flickers slightly, making the light dimming and darkness creeping back before it finally stabilizes. Dino isn't sure if he prefers the light or the darkness. He is just glad that he isn't alone._

"_Waiting… for the door to open?"_

"_Yeah."_

_White… white…_

_The light makes everything so white. And it makes the nothingness more real._

"_Just give up," the figure advises the light around him swaying again—although not as much as the first time. "It won't open up no matter how long you wait."_

"_Why?" Dino asks curiously._

"_Because the one behind the door won't let you in."_

_Dino tilts his head in curiosity, the figure mirroring his action. "Who is the one behind the door?"_

_It shrugs, the light around him getting brighter. "I don't know. Don't you know who is behind the door?"_

"_Should I? I don't know too, though."_

_Both of them then look at each other—or Dino thinks so—in silence. The Italian is just looking blankly at the unmoving figure, unable to think properly._

_But, suddenly, his face breaks into a smile._

"_It is fine," Dino says. "I will wait. The one behind the door will get annoyed at me eventually and open the door if only to chase me away… then we will know who is it."_

_The figure lets out a familiar laugh—beautiful and kind—before it starts to sway wildly. And just like fireflies, the slowly dimming light flies, little by little surrounding Dino before scattering away. And then… Dino finally is able to see the familiar face on the figure in front of him._

"_Then, that's good, Dino-san," Tsuna says. "If you don't giving up, it will be fine, right?"_

"_Yeah, Tsuna," answers Dino easily, as if he always knew that the figure is Tsuna, and grinning at the boy who takes a few steps back before turning around._

"_Well then. See you later, Dino-san," says Tsuna without looking back, although Dino knows the boy is still smiling._

"_See you."_

_And then, Tsuna disappears._

_The darkness is back._


	6. Problem 5

_**Beta: Mitzuna**_

_**Whereas the Sky Wishes**_

_**Problem Five**_

_**.**_

The inheritance ceremony was a mess.

Kyouya was hurt really badly—Taiga-san would be pissed. Not to mention Chrome—who Taiga-san took quite a liking too, although not as much as he liked Chrome's other counterpart—was kidnapped. Tsuna was a right mess and it was not only Taiga-san who would kill Dino if something happened to the boy.

_Dino _would kill _himself_.

"Don't tell my father," Kyouya hissed at Dino before stalking away to a secluded room.

And Dino really didn't dare to tell the boy's father about what just happened.

.

"Kyouya!"

The boy flinched when he heard his father's and mother's alarmed voice.

"What happened to you?" Taiga asked, worry clear in his voice when he walked closer to his son, while Hua was shouting for Kusakabe Tetsuya.

Kyouya just shook his head, determination clear in his eyes. "Father—I…"

"Alright," the older man said, cutting the teenager's words. "I don't want to know. Just go. Go, take Tetsuya with you. Take whatever you need."

"Helicopter, too?"

"If you need it, you can even take all the students," Hua said. "Or your uncles. Either one is fine."

Kusakabe, who looked surprised, appeared from inside the house—looking between the Hibari seniors and junior. "Chairman?" asked the man worriedly.

"It is fine, Tetsu," Kyouya said sharply. "We need to go."

Nodding at his superior, the tall Disciplinary Committee's vice chairman quickly went back inside the home—knowing without asking that he would need to piloting the helicopter. Kyouya was right behind his right-hand man when his parents' words stopped him death in the track.

"Do what you want to do and don't be afraid to die, son."

It still surprised Kyouya how his parents could say something in-sync. But, rather than being creped out like usual, Kyouya was only smiling slightly—never turning back to look at his parents when he continued his walk to his room. Knowing perfectly well that his parents were smiling at him.

"… Thank you."

_For understanding me._

.

It surprised Kyouya—

It really did.

Seeing _his_ herbivore's face like that…

Even from the distance, he knew that something was not right with the herbivore. And he knew that. He also understood that he didn't like it.

_He _would fix that expression on the herbivore's face no matter what happened—even if he had to kill the sienna haired boy.

After all…

_That boring face doesn't suit you, Tsunayoshi._

Oo~~**~~oO

"_I will always be with you no matter what happens, Long. And I will always support whatever decision you made… so you have to do the same for me."_

_._

"What a demanding person, even when he was a brat," muttered Hua to herself—watching Taiga who was talking with his brothers on the phone, asking both poor men to bring him something or another.

And knowing those two idiots with brother-complex (seriously, Hua thought that the only reason Taiga ever needed to get son-complex toward Kyouya was because he, himself, was 'victim' of two over-loving brothers and only knew that way on loving his only son) they would give Taiga whatever he wants. Including world domination if Taiga ever bothered to ask. Thankfully, the man was even lazier than a slot on some days, so the world was free from the Hibari's clutches.

And their iron-hand of unreasonable discipline.

Unlike Namimori. Poor Namimori.

"Taiga?"

The man, putting down the phone receiver, turned to look at Hua—a bored look on his face. "Hn?"

"We always take each other for granted, right?" Hua began, smiling slightly at the younger man's sleepy look.

The Japanese just shrugged, playing with the end of his white shirt and yawning widely. "Of course," he said. "Why?"

The Eurasian woman laughed suddenly—ignoring the surprised look the Japanese has. "It's just… what will life be like if we were not together from the start?"

"I don't know. We won't know."

"Is it too much for you to change?"

Hibari Taiga shook his head, a look of determination in his eyes. "I don't like the unknown," he said. "And I am scared of change."

"Coward," muttered Hua. "You were always scared of a lot of things."

Taiga smiled at Hua, a small smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Why do you think the Hibari always marry Japanese after the Meiji Restoration, Hua? Actually, the only two Hibari who married non-Japanese before me were just Alaude Nuage's wife and their son—and I thought they were stupid to do that," he began slowly. "That's because Japanese are easy to read—and it brings us comfort to be in control."

"But you married me."

"Because you are certainty. You are constant presence. You won't change."

"Won't you try to change?"

"No."

"Even if it is for Dino-kun?"

"Especially if it is for that boy."

.

Taiga is someone who likes to receive without giving.

Dino is someone who likes to give without receiving.

Taiga likes to own but not to be owned.

He likes his freedom—yet he loathes risk.

… And he is afraid to be alone.

Letting go, sacrificing…

Walking away from the road people set for him and roaming the unknown…

A coward, coward, coward.

A coward who won't fight a battle he doesn't know he will win.

A coward who prefers to stabs people in their back and use their weakness rather than to fight them face to face.

A shadow behind the Mist.

Lurking, unseen, and just waiting for the right moment to attack.

A man who will do anything to crush his opponent by any means necessary… but doesn't want to hurt himself when doing just that.

A man who likes to hurt another but afraid to hurt himself.

A selfish, selfish man.

A prideful, cowardice, selfish man who is bored with his life but doesn't want to admit it because he is scared.

"And you, who fell for someone like that, are really something, Dino-kun," whispered Hua to the night sky. "But it will be fine… because you are a sky—and that's just the nature of people like you to accept anyone, right?"

To be the sky who accepts even the wandering Mist.

.

Reborn once told Dino that, "No one can chain a Cloud, yet, it will be fine because the Cloud will always be by the Sky. But it is almost impossible to grasp the Mist who stays far and is never able to reach the Sky."

.

"A Cloud only needs one Sky—Kyouya's Sky is Tsuna. A Mist only needs one Sky too, so do Strom, Rain, Lightning, and Sun, and their Sky is Tsuna. Yet the Sky is different. He can accept more than one—two Mist, countless Cloud, another Sun, more annoying Lighting, one more Rain, lots of other Storm… even the Earth. Because it is Sky's nature to accept everyone, it is Sky's nature to harmonize so Tsuna will be fine. And because I am a Sky too… I might never be able to grasp that wandering Mist—but I will watch over him. Not unlike how Tsuna watches over his own Mist, right? After all, if my cute little brother can do that, I would be embarrassed if I can't."

.

"Maybe we just need our own Sky to come back to," whispered Hua. "A Sky… who will accept anyone…"

.

"_Tsuna, be safe…"_

.  
"Dino-san!"

Dino couldn't help but let out a big grin when he finally saw the figure of his little brother running toward him and opening his arms wide enough so Tsuna could run straight to his chest. Cradling the boy close when he saw the injuries on his body, Dino couldn't help but wince.  
"I am glad you are safe," the Cavallone's boss said—looking around with Tsuna still in his hold to see who else came back with him.

All of the Shimon and Vongola Guardians… all with different degrees of injuries. His eyes catch the lone figure of Kyouya and Dino couldn't help but let out a relived sigh when he saw the boy held no noticeable injury.

A sigh that suddenly became a coughing fit when he saw Rokudo Mukuro leaning over Yamamoto Takeshi and Mizuno Kaoru for support.

"Mukuro?" Dino let out a high-pitched scream, which made the sienna haired boy in his arm laughing in amusement.

"Oh yes, Mukuro," the mentioned teen said sarcastically. "I need a hospital first, Pony-boy, before you start panicking about me breaking another jail."

"M-me too, actually," mumbled Tsuna in embarrassment.

Dino laughed bashfully—torn between amusement and worry and just choosing to laugh all of it off—cradling the boy even closer. "Yeah, Tsuna, yeah."

Oo~~**~~oO

"It was always bugging me," Tsuna said conversationally to Hibari who sat beside his hospital bed (and looked really ready to barge to the room next door and kill Rokudo Mukuro who got a visit from the dark-haired teenager's father—Kyouya didn't know since when the pineapple herbivore knew his father and he hated it).

The older teenager looked at Tsuna, raising his eyebrow. "What is this, Sawada Tsunayoshi?"

Tsuna smiled sheepishly at Hibari before reaching out to touch him, only to wince at the sharp pain it caused. "Ow," Tsuna muttered, not surprised that Hibari didn't even move to help him. "I wonder… what kind of flame do your parents have?"

"Huh?"

"Uh, well… Reborn told me before that unconsciously people often wear a color that represents their flame," Tsuna said. "Hibari-san has… Cloud and Mist, right? I wonder from where you got them."

"You know this conversation has no meaning except you being nosy right, little animal?" Hibari said, a bit amused when Tsuna grinned happily at him.

"I want to know more about Hibari-san."

The dark-haired boy let out a small smile before it morphed back to his usual indifference mask. "Can't you tell from the way they dress?" he asked Tsuna who just shrugged.

"I have a guess that Taiga-san has a Mist Flame and Hua-san a Strom Flame," Tsuna said, playing with the edge of his blanket. "But where did Kyouya-san get his Cloud Flame from?"

Hibari had to hide his grin when he heard Tsuna calling him by his given name—something that he always tried to make Tsuna do but never succeeded in. And here was the boy, not even noticing he slipped and called him with his own name.

"Eh? What is it, Hibari-san?" Tsuna asked worriedly, sadly coming back and using the older boy's family name again.

"I got it from my grandparents," Hibari said, ignoring Tsuna worried look. "My father and mother might have a little Cloud Flame inside them—with them being descendant of the first Cloud Guardian and all—but the Flame that's dominating them are just what you can see. Thus why father _likes_ Rokudo Mukuro."

And then came the sneer again, which made Tsuna laugh nervously. "W-well, it is good that it is Dino-san who is interested in Taiga-san… not Mukuro," Tsuna said, trying to calm Hibari.

Which, in turn, only made the older teenager fume more.

"Hibari-san, it is not as if Dino-san's feeling will change anything," Tsuna said quietly, grabbing his Cloud Guardian's hand. "Give him a chance—if they don't mean to be together, Dino-san will give up soon enough or Taiga-san will stop Dino-san when one of them had enough."

Hibari was looking at their joined hands, pondering about what Tsuna said before sighing heavily and adjusting his hand so now their fingers intertwined together.

"I don't know, herbivore," Hibari said, bowing his head and touching his forehead with Tsuna's. "Will you get enough of me?"

Tsuna's laughter made the older teenager let out a small smile on his own. "Hibari-san, the question is… _will you_?" Tsuna said, a bright smile was still on his face. "… After all… me, about Hibari-san…"

"Shh, I know."

Oo~~**~~oO

"Dino-kun, a word if I may."

Dino, who was just waving goodbye at the grinning Yamamoto, looked back in surprise. There, Hibari LongHua stood behind him, a serene smile on her handsome face.  
"Hua-san?" he said slowly. "Taiga-san is?"

"With Mukuro-kun," Hua said, shrugging. "Dino-kun? My request?"

"Uh, yeah. Okay. Let's go to the roof."

'Thank you."

.

Dino was looking nervously at Hua who stared at him with eyes that remind him far too much of Kyouya's. Restraining the urge to fidget, Dino decided that if Hua wouldn't say anything first, he would do. Damn it, he was a boss—he could do that much! No matter how nervous he was around the wife of his love interest.

"What is it, Hua-san?" he asked

The woman tilted her head, the eerily familiar smile still in her face. "You are handsome, Dino-kun," she said. "And kind…"

"Huh?"

Dino blinked at the woman, his teeth starting to gnaw his bottom lip and hand hovering nervously—ready to grasp his whip. All Hibari were unpredictable—he didn't want to be caught unaware and getting killed just because he couldn't reach his weapon in time to defend himself. Especially against an angry wife, god knew Reborn told him enough tales of angry women for him to be on his guard around them.

_Oh, okay—maybe it was Reborn fault I went for the husband instead of the wife… and I just realized it,_ thought Dino bitterly.

"About Taiga—"

_Oh, shit—I am fucked up…?_

"I want to talk about the Taiga I know and your feelings for him," Hua said, making Dino's jaw drop.

"Eh—wait. You are not angry?"

The woman looked genuinely confused when she shook her head. "No," she said—frowning when the strong early-fall wind messed her long hair. "Though that makes me weird, I guess."

Dino let out a soft chuckle—remembering how strange this woman could be and how her husband and son were, the Italian was not exactly surprised.

"What do you know about Taiga? In one word, Dino-kun?"

"… Cowardice," Dino said, hesitation in his voice although he did not pause to think.

He was almost worried that he replied with the wrong answer when Hua stayed silence. The pair of bluish-silver eyes still looked at Dino with an unreadable gleam in them.

"You are strangely honest," Hua said, a bit of surprise on her voice. "And here I thought you would be blind of it because you are in love with him."

Dino shook his head, a frown on his handsome face. "I actually hate it, his cowardice," Dino said with his shoulder slumped. "And the fact that he is always afraid to take a step away, that he is always receiving but doesn't want to give anything. His selfishness. I hate all of it."

"Yet you grow to tolerate it, don't you, Dino-kun?"

"It is part of him—I can't change it, I don't want to… I have no_ right_," the blonde said, now looking straight at Hua's face. "And if you can't—won't—if even _you_ who has the right to change him just let him—"

Hua tilted her head up, looking at the sky. "It is no use if he doesn't want to change himself, right?" the woman said. "But he is the type of person who's afraid of change."

.

_He is a child in an adult's body—trapped in his own time and doesn't want to move from where he is._

_Because he is the type of person who never likes to look at his past—he never learns from his failures and always stays the same._

_If you can change him…_

_No, if you can make him want to change—doesn't that mean you are special, Dino Cavallone?_

_As special as Sawada Tsunayoshi is to my son._


	7. Problem 6

_**Beta reader: Mitzuna**_

_**Whereas the Sky Wishes**_

_**Problem Six**_

_**.**_

Taiga really liked beautiful things…

Hua's beautiful hair…

Tsunayoshi's beautiful smile…

Kyouya's beautiful grace…

Mukuro's beautiful eyes…

He stored those beauties inside his heart and never let those go.

.

"You know… it is not as if we are not happy. But we always… always have been together for all our life so that we take each other for granted. Love each other because there is no-one else. We love each other and take each other's love for granted, because there was never another person to love in that way. For us, it was always each other."

_So what should I do…_

"Oh, we are in love and we never regretted it."

_What am I doing… falling for the man who loves another…_

"But we were never 'passionately in love'."

_What is passionately in love?_

"So, your feelings for him are new, Dino-kun."

_Is this feeling… even passionate enough?_

"You know, your feelings… if it was just romantic love, I might already have kicked you long ago. Romantic… is not suited for Taiga. He needs passionate love like yours, Dino-kun. Romantic love will fall short soon enough and change to companionship."

_Companionship…?_

"Do you see Kyouya and Tsunayoshi-kun? That's feeling which never laid down, always moving, uncontrolled… Taiga doesn't like it, because it lets him not in control. But… I think that's what he needs. For someone to finally take control from his hands."

_What do you want me to do?_

_._

_Red…_

_Red blood…_

_The body laying unmoving…_

_Never opening his eyes…_

_._

"Taiga likes companionship—it won't wear down easily and it is easy to control. And that is enough for a couple to continue together. But settling down… I never thought settling down even suited that man, no?"

_He always looks bored…_

"You know the sometime downright bored look on Taiga's face? The way he sometimes spaces out or is simply being out of the world?"

_How can I not… I hate that look…_

"If you can make him happy and entertained, that's enough for me."

_What?_

.

_The sakura flutters… flutters…_

_And the rain drops… drops…_

_._

"Taiga's personality is so much like Kyouya, I think, people will says that I am wrong. Just like Kyouya, he hates boredom. He is easily bored, and especially in this rather domestic life where little surprises happen—he is just too scared to admit it, to walk away, to let everything go," Hua let out a deep breath, still not looking at Dino and continued to stare at the sky. "You know, we have a happy marriage, because we know everything about each other inside and out. But I hope Taiga would live to be more akin to his surname, like Kyouya. Staying still does not suit him. He needs someone who can keep him on his toes, to intrigue his curiosity, to bicker with… and someone who understands him. I can do the last two—but the first two, I can't. He knows me too well for his own good, and I him."

"Why…?"

"Because, if you can make him love you… why not, Dino-kun? I am not petty—nor do I need my husband's support to be able to life decently—we will still be friends and family, tied by blood, even if we were not married. I won't lose him and he won't lose me. But that… will only happen if you are able to steal him from me. Dino-kun, go on. I challenge you. We always let each other do whatever the other wants, this time is no exception. It might be strange—but he and I are family. And none of us from the Hibari can ever be called normal, right?"

The Italian man shook his head wildly, eyes wide and scared. "No," he said. "I won't do that."

"Dino-kun!"

.

_Taiga loves beautiful thing…_

_Because he knows he will never have them for himself._

_Because beautiful things have to be shared…_

_Even though he keeps the fragments of them in his heart… so he will only remember…_

_So he won't be hurt…_

_._

_Taiga-san…_

_For me you are like snow. Like something that will disappear if touched._

_Just like snow…_

_Someday… you will disappear. Just like snow in the spring._

_._

_Untouchable…_

_If Dino touches him once, Dino is afraid he will disappear._

_._

"Taiga-san is… someone who doesn't take lightly to change. He likes everything to stay the same."

Dino was trembling, too afraid to look at Hua and notice everything was only illusion. Hugging himself tightly, the Italian tried to ward away the reality.

Too scared.

Afraid to change.

"Isn't that how you are feeling now?" Hua said softly.

.

"Taiga-san, just like your son… you both are too self-centered, kufufufu," Mukuro laughed at the Japanese man who looked at him blankly.

"Are we?" he asked. "I just don't like to be hurt."

The illusionist smirked at the man, nodding. "Me too," he said. "But we are still human. We have to take the risk."

"Don't like risk either."

"Don't we all!" the teenager laughed again. "And the next time, I will hear that you love yourself the most too, just like me, kufufufu."

"But I do."

Mukuro was shocked to silence by the uncaring admittance. It was strange for Mukuro to see this kind of hypocrisy—not that Mukuro _not_ had it on himself too.

Hibari Taiga was definitely strange.

He loved himself the most yet he didn't want to change and make himself happier than he already was.

Oo~~**~~oO

"_Scarf? But it is still summer."_

That was what Taiga once said, bewildered at the random gift Dino gave him.

That time, the younger man only shrugged with a smile in his face. While said that he gave it that time for he didn't know if he could go to meet Taiga and give it to him in winter, the Italian knew that inside, he was—and still is—not sure that he would be able to meet Taiga at all.

Every day was like that. Afraid of tomorrow. Didn't know if he would ever come back. Never daring to make long-term plans for himself.

And even if he loved that man, he never planned to take their relationship further.

The only reason he admitted his feelings and stayed beside Taiga as much as he could was because _that_ memory kept haunting him.

.

_The unmoving body._

_Closed eyes._

_Kyouya's angry shout…_

.

The feeling of guilt and love and just plain… regret.

Regret… because he… the future him… was never able to confess.

No… not even confessing…

The future Dino was too scared to even stay beside Taiga until it become too late for both of them. For everyone.

That's why Dino didn't want to feel that feeling of regret and sadness again. He never thought what would happen if he could take a step further. No, the thought itself scared him.

It will end…

And if it ends…

_How… can I spend my time after?_

.

Dino knew that he was being something that he loathed—that he was just trying to run away.

He knew very well that given the time, he would be able to forget about his feelings for Taiga if something went wrong and everything broke. If the thin ice that was their relationship finally gave in and let him drown. He knew that he would be fine—it might take years, but he would be fine… he was not alone after all. He had Tsuna, he had Reborn… and the most important thing, he had his subordinates. He would only lose a man—it might change something… but it would be okay. Dino knew he would be okay.

So, what' stopping him from taking this chance?

.

_Pipsqueak Dino…_

.

"Dino-kun… we only wish for each other's happiness. We already promised back then that we would be by each other side—we would help each other… no matter what happened."

"Am I even the right person to do this…?"

Hua closed her eyes, turning her head so now she was facing Dino. "I am not going to say 'if it is you, Taiga will definitely' or something like that," the woman said, her Chinese dress flapping wildly around her because of the wind. Dino barely noticed that her platinum-blonde hair also framed her face in the same messy manner her dress did her body. "But I will say this… take good care of Taiga when he is by your side."

.

_When… not if… she said when…_

.

_But… aren't I… breaking something…_

_Ah…_

.

"I am scared," Dino admitted. "I don't want to break something—not like this. I will feel guilty…"

Hua's eyes snapped open and now she was staring directly at the much younger looking man in front of her—guilt and sadness reflected on Dino's beautiful brown eyes.

"Ah," Hua muttered to herself. "Ah…"

.

_Sky… always giving… scared of receiving… afraid to break something…_

.

"It will be fine," Hua said, reaching out and patting the side of Dino's head gently. "You won't break us. The thing that will be broken is our marriage… and it was already broken the time we married the first time."

Hua's fingers now traced the side of the Italian's face. The touch gentle and comforting, as if she wanted to hush away those worries in Dino's face.

"… Since the start, we knew that our marriage would fall apart sooner or later."

_And I would be reassured if he had someone like you by his side… to keep him, who doesn't know anything about the world outside his own safe one…_

"I don't this for you, Dino-kun. It is always for myself—or for Taiga. Because we are one."

Oo~~**~~oO

It took Dino weeks to finally wrap everything.

It took Dino weeks to finally decide that he, indeed, wanted to take a step further now when he knew it will be really okay.

It took Dino weeks to finally notice that Mukuro now found another way to piss Kyouya off.

"Mukuro here again…?" asked Dino at the scowling Kyouya, who apparently was forbidden to attack Mukuro in his own home.

"_You _are here again, herbivore?" bit Hibari back. "You herbivores really ask to get bitten to death."

"No no no," Dino shook his head wildly. "I just want to ask you about—"

"—If it is about my father again, I will bite you to death."

And a tonfa now pressed at Dino's neck—the owner looking up with a murderous aura even scarier that the one Xanxus usually radiated. The Cavallone's boss wouldn't admit it out loud, but _seriously_, anyone who was not scared of Xanxus, Reborn, and Kyouya must have their mind screwed. Mukuro was the perfect example—and his mind indeed was screwed six hells and back.

"I'm here on Reborn's behalf!" the Bucking Bronco screamed suddenly.

_Crash!_

"CAVALLONE!"

"Get out of here, fast," Hua suddenly appeared from the kitchen not far away, pushing both Dino and Kyouya away before Taiga finally entangled himself from Mukuro's hold—China scattered around them, the result of Taiga jumping in surprise when Dino shouted and drop one of Hua's precious antique china's porcelain.

"See what you have done, pony," growled Kyouya, stalking away with Dino jogging behind him, Romario not far away from them both.

Dino let out a whimper—it would be harder to convince Kyouya to be part of team Reborn now that he managed to piss off the boy's father and indirectly broke their fine China.

.

"… I will give you the answer on the first day of the Representative Battle," Kyouya finally said after a long silence in one of the Hibari's dojo—in which Dino felt like he would be killed twice, Kyouya first and then Reborn for failing to bring Kyouya into their team.

The Italian looked up at Kyouya, assured when he saw the interested gleam in those bluish-silver eyes. "Eh, really?" Dino asked excitedly.

Kyouya nodded, then processed to kick Dino out. "Go away now, Bronco."

.

.

* * *

To be continued

* * *

.

.

* * *

Notes:

For you who interested on 1827 doujinshi, you can go to my blogspot to read the doujinshi I translated ^^

About blogspot too, if you guys interested, I leave some pictures of Taiga and random stories on it ;)

Some/greater size of pictures can be found in my pixiv too

The story about the first generation actually has it is own story, I would like to direct you on **The Hidden Memory; Friendship** or **The Misty Sun** if you are interested in some AlaGio :D (One can say that Taiga is Senko's male counterpart too *laugh*)

All the links can be found in my profile (´▽｀)ノ

And, uhm, regarding the update, I updating twice in a month and that won't change except if something really big happened—and I mean, if I got flood of demands to update, I will update more~

Currently writing for the side stories ;) though it will come after The Lost Chain and my exams *laugh*

Lastly, thank you very much for reading and reviewing—this might be the very last author note~


	8. Problem 7

**_Beta Reader: Mitzuna_**

* * *

**_Whereas the Sky Wishes_**

**_Problem Seven_**

**_._**

"Won't you become your uncle's representative, Kyouya?"

The aforementioned boy looked up from his dinner to Hua who was calmly drinking her tea, before looking at his father who was still busy eating his food. "What is it, Mother?" Kyouya asked, not sure about what he just heard.

"I heard from Mukuro about it," Taiga said, abandoning his diner with disgust in his face. "I hate mushrooms, Hua."

"Cook by yourself if you don't like it," the woman said. "And," she added quickly. "It seems that Mukuro-kun is someone called Verde's representative—from Dino-kun's words, it seems that Reborn, the Sun Arcobaleno, is scouting you? But wouldn't it be more beneficial for you to team up with your own uncle?"

"The baby?"

"… He might be in baby-size now, Kyouya—but he is still my little brother," Hua said, waving her newly picked chopstick wildly.

Kyouya scowled at his mother's manners—said woman grinning sheepishly and putting the chopstick down obediently. "He just came to get me when you talked with Dino-kun and Mukuro-kun tried to calm your father down," Hua said again, not caring that both her son and husband were now going back to dinner. "He asks to meet you."

Kyouya gave no response, he only reached out to take the mushrooms from his father's plate and eat it for the man. Looking at that, it was now Hua's turn to scowl at them.

"Stop spoiling each other already," muttered Hua. "Anyway, won't you think about it, Kyouya? You can fight both Dino-kun and Mukuro-kun if you are with Fong. You don't even need to crowd!"

Oo~~**~~oO

"Ciao—"

_"If my son is killed—I will kill you, Cavallone. –crack—tuuu—tuuu—"_

The Cavallonewas looking at his mobile phone with a surprised face, he didn't really understand what just happened.  
"Ah, Mister Hibari Taiga," Romario said from behind Dino, peering at the phone in Dino's hand—the screen said 'Hibari Residence' on it.

"R-Romario…"

"Yes, boss?"

"I think someone just put some heavy responsibility on me—especially with Kyouya's almost suicidal antics…"

.

"Taiga, Taiga," Hua said, hurriedly sitting beside Taiga, while the man lazily turned away from the television to look at his wife.

Yawning, the man scooted away so Hua could have more place on the sofa. "Why do you think Kyouya doesn't want to admit that my cute little brother is his Uncle?" asked Hua, as if she always wanted to ask but never found the time to do it.

Or, knowing Hua, she might forget what she wanted to ask and was just asking Taiga now before she forgot again.

"He doesn't even consider my brothers as family," Taiga answer was uncaring. "He might not think them worthy enough to be called his family."

"… Because of Fong being cursed in baby form and your brothers stepping away from the head of the Hibari clan's position so you can take over?"

"… You know if they hadn't stepped down, at best I would be casted away from this house—or not even born to begin with."

"Thank god your parents and brothers love you."

"…"

"Is it only because Fong is cursed…? Kyouya knows being an Arcobaleno doesn't mean Fong is less strong than he actually is. Nor that it is exactly humiliating."

"… Hua, I don't know. One can never guess what's inside his head."

.

"Why are you so furious with that person?" asked Fong to Kyouya.

The teenager shrugged, but answered it with as much as honesty as he could. "That person said he wants to be my teacher," Hibari said. "I don't need that kind of existence."

"… Is that only it?" Fong asked again when they finally stepped inside the lift, waiting for it to go up.

Hibari glared at the Strom Arcobaleno through the reflection on the shining surface of the lift, lifting his eyebrow in annoyance. "What else do you think?" he asked dangerously.

"Oh, I don't know," the red-clothed baby said, smiling serenely. "It might be the fact that he has an interest in my brother-in-law and my sister forbade you to fight him if you have no real reason to do it?"

The dark-haired teenager scowled, _this _was why he hates his Uncles. All of them were too in love with their voices and just loved to preach. He wouldn't be surprised if there was at least one person out here who held grudge on them because of their preaching and smartass comments.

.

"Sorry, Kyouya!" Dino said, after he saved the boy from Xanxus' wrath. "It is just your father asked me to take care of you—okay, he might have said that he would kill me if you got killed. I am sorry, please don't kill me!"

.

It was a long and enjoyable battle… but Hibari was glad it is finished…

"Tsunayoshi," he said, running to the boy who suddenly fell on his bottom, as if all his energy was sipped away—and that might be true.

"Hibari-san," the sienna haired boy breathed, extending his hands up.

Without hesitation, without caring who saw them, Kyouya quickly pulled the boy up and hugged the small body closer. "You are still alive, herbivore," he said—ignoring the surprised gasps and shouts from everyone else.

Tsuna let out a breathless laugh, hugging him back. "Yes, I am… yes…" the boy whispered to Kyouya's ear. "You too… I am glad. I was so scared when he went for your head back then…"

Oo~~**~~oO

Dino looked up in surprise when he heard the door to his room open. At first, he didn't recognize who it was walking into room because of two big bouquets of flowers and one in smaller size in their hand blocking their face from view. But, the indigo hakama and black hair that showed up when the intruder moved slightly to close the door was a death giveaway and Dino couldn't help but grin.

"Taiga-san," Dino said happily when the man threw one of the bouquets into Dino's lap—the smaller one, but Dino didn't mind.

The man huffed, positioning the two bouquets in a more comfortable position in his hands. "I will be quick," the Japanese said. "I need to go to Mukuro's and Kyouya's room."

"Yes? What is it?"

"I heard from Fong that you saved Kyouya in the second fight," Taiga said, and Dino could clearly hear the scowl in the man's voice. "I thank you for that—it is on me, I asked you to keep him safe, after all."

Dino quickly waved the thanks away, saying that Taiga didn't exactly tell him to do it and it was his crazy tutor who gave the order to Dino. That it was fine, Dino was happy enough that Taiga came to visit him.

"Come on," Taiga growled, irritation clear in his voice when he cut Dino's rant off. "Just tell me what you want—just not my money. Money is off limit, no touching my true love."

The Cavallone Decimo couldn't help but laugh at that. Seriously, sometime the man was…

Then, suddenly, a brilliant idea came to Dino's mind.

"Taiga-san?"

"What?"

"You say… _anything_?"

Taiga looked at Dino suspiciously before nodding hesitantly. He could sense something off, but he was too prideful to take his words back.

"Then, how about… having a contract with me?"

"… Mukuro, what are you doing here?"

Grinning sheepishly at the man when he noticed that he indeed sounded too much like Mukuro, Dino shook his head. "Eh… what to say… Taiga-san, how about we have fights—in plural—and when I win I can take you on dates and when you win you can ask me to do anything?"

"Hah?"

"Come on, Taiga-san. I am not that bad to look at, right?" Dino said, grinning wanly at the man. "You don't even have to go if you win—come on, you are not scared on losing to a brat like me, right?"

Dino knew it was a low move, but as careful as Taiga was on choosing his battles—if goaded enough by someone like Dino who easily gets on his nerves—Taiga wouldn't turn down a blatant challenge like that. The Cavallone's boss was never able to thank the prideful streak of the Hibari's (and Xanxus) enough sometimes. Bunch of five years old brats in the skins of adults, indeed.

"Fine," the man finally said, anger clear in his voice when he stormed out of the room.

The blonde winced when he heard the door open and close harshly, wondering if _he _would have to pay for it if it was broken.

.

"You lost," Fong said with a serene face, staring at Taiga who was laying on his back and glaring at the dojo's roof while Dino ways standing not too far from them, grinning bashfully with Romario congratulating him.

"… It is the subordinate," Taiga gritted out.

"You are a bad loser, Taiga," Fong said, while Taiga muttered—_aren't you too_—under his breath.

"So, where do you want to go, Taiga-san?"

The ex-Strom Arcobaleno had to hold his laughter when his brother-in-law and cousin's face turned red—in embarrassment, anger, or even to hold the urge to swear, Fong didn't know. But, knowing the Japanese man, it might be all three of it and a lot more.

.

"I hate you," Taiga gritted out at Dino who smiled wanly at him—another fight with Taiga as loser. "How can you win more than you lose…?"

"Eh? Have I never told you I am strong?" asked Dino, reaching his hand out to help Taiga stand up only for the hand to be slapped away harshly.

"…"

_That clumsiness really fooled me._

.

It kept happening.

Again and again.

Dino would challenge him, and he would lose—or on some odd occasions, wins.

He didn't know why he was doing it. He forgot already.

But he knew…

It was somewhat fun…

Oo~~**~~oO

Tsuna didn't like it.

He didn't like it at all.

It was like he was been pressured by both sides and it took all his patience not to blow up at one or both of the idiots who kept bugging him. Especially because he was still not getting enough rest after the Representative Battle ended.

_One problem after another_, the newly appointed Neo Vongola Primo thought, rubbing the spot between his eyebrows to keep the oncoming headache away.

Not only Dino's been bugging him and asking him on everything he knew about Taiga-san and the place he likes—not that Tsuna knew much… Tsuna could swear Dino now knew much more about the Hibari senior than Tsuna himself. Tsuna was even surprised to learn that even Mukuro, who had just recently met Taiga-san, knew the man better than Tsuna.

But… the Hibari junior… who, in all honestly, Tsuna loved with all his heart… was beyond annoying now.

Said Hibari who was now walking around Tsuna's room—back and forth, back and forth. Again and again without stopping. And who won't stop anytime soon from the look of it.

"What is it?" asked Tsuna, sighing heavily while leaning on his bed. "Kyouya-san… what it is?"

The man gave Tsuna a scathing look, and Tsuna really had to push the urge to point at his broken window and ask Hibari to fix it. It was, after all, Hibari who broke it to get inside his room. Didn't the man know anything called _door_?

"Dino Cavallone," the _Fuki Iinchou_ said, as if Tsuna didn't know already.

"Yes," Tsuna gritted his teeth, tugging Hibari's pants to stop him when the boy passed in front of Tsuna. "Now, sit. Tell me what _exactly_ happened. And I am still scared of you—but in all honestly, you are just going to _bite me to death_ and not kill me in literal sense, so I will take the beating after you tell me what is bothering you."

"_Wao_, aren't you brave, herbivore?" the older teenager sneered at Tsuna, and Tsuna had to bite back a smile.

"Yes, for today I will be suicidal and act brave," said the sienna haired boy. "If Kyouya-san tells me what is bothering him…"

"Fine," he said, sitting down in front of Tsuna with his hands joined in front of his chest in a haughty manner.

What Hibari told Tsuna let the younger man become torn between being fond and annoyed.

He always knew Hibari Kyouya was self-centered, possessive, and annoyingly childish at times. But being practically sulking because he felt his father was stolen from him… what was he? A five year old?

If Tsuna was being honest, some portion of his annoyance should go to Dino too—but considering Dino already got his due to Taiga being practically snappish at the Italian and downright annoyed, Tsuna thought it was only fair if he supported the poor Cavallone Decimo.

After all, falling in love with someone who already had a teenager son—a father-complex teenager son… a son whose name was Hibari Kyouya was quite a feat.

Truthfully, Dino could do worse even without Hibari Kyouya breathing down on his neck.

"Kyouya-san," Tsuna said slowly, putting something in his mouth.

Kyouya, who was too busy glaring at the wall, just spared the boy one short glance before glaring back at the wall again—wishing it was Dino's head so he could bash it repeatedly with his tonfa. Before quickly turning to look in his lover's direction again with wide, surprised eyes.

The boy was now standing in front of Kyouya and looking down at his Cloud Guardian. The bright Dying Will Flame on his forehead giving shadows to the gleaming half-lidded sunset colored eyes. Any normal time, Kyouya might call it 'delicious', but now, the Cloud Guardian was too stunned to think properly about what the Sky Guardian wanted.

_Whack_!

If he was not Hibari Kyouya but another human being, the dark-haired teenager would let out a pained cry. But, because he was Hibari Kyouya, he just cradled the top of his head gingerly—peering at Tsuna who was still in his Hyper Dying Mode with mix of confusion and anger in his gaze.

"Kyouya-san," Tsuna said coldly, not even blinking when a tonfa appeared in Hibari's hand. "Dino-san is trying his best."

"What?" growled the taller teenager, throwing his tonfa at Tsuna who catches it without flinching.

The Neo Vongola Primo sighed slightly, grabbing the tonfa's handle securely in his hand. Shaking his head, Tsuna went to his knees and touched his lover's shoulder with his free hand. "It will be fine," Tsuna said. "Dino-san won't take Taiga-san away from you. That would be impossible. Taiga-san loves you far too much…"

"My father won't be happy with _him_," Kyouya spat, grabbing Tsuna's hand on his shoulder harshly. "I don't want to see my father hurt because of someone like _that herbivore_—I will kill _him_."

"I understand… but Taiga-san will be fine."

"How—"

"I have Hyper Intuition," Tsuna said. "It will be fine. If Dino-san really hurts Taiga-san… Taiga-san will beat him, and he will let you beat Dino-san after he did. I will help, even. And Mukuro will be far too happy to join."

Hibari looked at Tsuna with wonder in his bluish-silver eyes before dropping his gaze and pulling Tsuna to him. "… What do you think about this, Tsunayoshi?" he asked, hugging Tsuna close.

"… Give them chance, Kyouya-san," the sienna haired man said, his Hyper Dying Will Flame slowly dimming. "Just give them chance…"

Oo~~**~~oO

That day, the clouds were dark and angry—a sure sign that it would rain soon.

Shrugging, Dino ignored the weather and grabbed his jacket to run out and meet with Taiga—fall weather was just like woman's heart, it changes too quickly so it might be sunny when they arrived at the place Dino promised to bring Taiga.

Bird park… who knew.

.

"Taiga-san!" the blonde called Taiga who stood in front of his own home, a black trench coat in his hand.

The man who Dino called yawned widely before walking to where Dino parked his car, going inside to sit on the passenger seat. "Don't kill me," muttered the man when he noticed none of Dino's subordinates were around.

Not noticing the jibe, Dino laughed happily before driving away.

.

It bugged Taiga, sometimes, that Dino knew exactly what he wanted. That Dino would do something crazy for him.

Taiga knew why, but it was too much…

.

_One drop._

_Two drops._

_Slowly the sky cries…_

.

It was when the rain fell on them in the bird park that Taiga decided to drop the boom.

"Boy."

"Ow, raining—we have to take shelter… eh. What is it, Taiga-san?"

The older man looked up to see the blonde's eyes—his blonde bangs almost flattened in front of them by the rain but the Italian swiped them quickly enough so Taiga could look clearly at Dino's brown eyes.

.

Dino and Taiga were looking at each other; both had unreadable expressions in their faces.

The silence continued, and only the sound of rain was around them to break it. Taiga pulled his coat tighter, without breaking eye contact with the younger man. The rain made the trench coat heavy yet he didn't care about it.

He didn't even care that he might catch a cold if he continued standing in the rain. What he care about was to get the answer to the question on his mind… and finally let everything rest.

.

"What do you really want from me, Dino Cavallone?"


End file.
